Reality
by WeAllHaveAnEscape
Summary: Sequel to Imagine. Another bunch of one-shots thrown together on a timeline, following the two of them into the next step of their relationship (that doesn't sound formal at all...). Hope you enjoy! (Gone up to T because I'm paranoid)
1. Celebration

**A/N: Hello there you lovely lovely people. Here it is! I didn't realise how much planning I'd done for this until now XD Literally, I've drawn their children and named them, written their personalities and interests, I've plotted which characters I'm gonna use, sketched Éponine's wedding dress, drafted out a family tree, dinner seating plan...I've done too much, it's a bit weird XD (if you want to see the dress after I've put up their wedding scene then drop me a PM - I'm not the best artist but you'd get the general idea :) ) Prompts always appreciated, I have some from the website now but don't be afraid to keep submitting!**

**So, another story must begin indeed. Also, happy birthday to I Am Your Singer 2006, who I have dedicated this chapter to as without you there wouldn't be a sequel. Thank you and happy birthday! :)**

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**Prompt (thank you I Am Your Singer 2006): Imagine the six of them having a celebratory dinner in light of Marius and Éponine's engagement (I've set it on the same night as the proposal so expect some fluff :3)**

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"You are not drinking tonight."

"Alright Marble."

"I mean it."

"I know, Marble."

"Stop calling me Marble."

"Okay, Marble."

"I give up."

Éponine laughed at Enjolras and Grantaire's short exchange. "Marble" had become somewhat a nickname for Enjolras now, courtesy of Grantaire in reference to his status of a statue.

She was tucked firmly into Marius' side, Azelma holding her hand and Joly next to Marius as they headed off for a celebratory dinner. "Marble" and Grantaire were in front of them, debating about almost anything they could.

She looked up at her fiancée - she couldn't say the word without smiling - and grinned at him. Marius returned the smile, leaning down to kiss her briefly. Azelma rolled her eyes, happy that her sister was happy but hoping they wouldn't be quite so cute/vomit inducing the whole night.

Joly led the way through the near-empty marketplace, guiding the party to the restaurant he had in mind. It didn't take too long to get there and soon the six of them were say at a table, Enjolras at the head and Azelma opposite him, Marius and Éponine of course next to each other with Joly and Grantaire across from them. Marius squeezed Éponine's hand under the table, gently running a finger over her ring, causing a blush and a smile from both of them. They both looked into the others eyes, subconsciously edging closer together until Éponine could rest her head on his shoulder, and his arm stretch across to her waist.

"Are you two going to pick up the menu or are you too geared up in lovesick mode to care about reality?"

Éponine swatted at Azelma with her menu, the youngster grinning cheekily. She looked down at the menu and was a bit embarrassed on how little of it she could read.

"Um, Marius?"

"Mm?"

"Little reading help?" she asked. Joly overheard and Éponine gestured towards Azelma, asking him to help her order. One by one Marius went through the dishes, giving her time to think about which she'd prefer. She ended up with some chicken (her new found favourite dish) and a baked potato, sharing a salad bowl with Marius. Azelma had gone for the same minus the salad, never having been a fan of vegetables.

"So, Monsieur and soon to be Madame Pontmercy, eh?" Grantaire said. "Didn't think it would happen myself, you were blind as a bat before."

"Wasn't he an idiot?"

"Azelma!"

"He was!"

"Sorry about this."

"No problem."

"Ouch! 'Ponine!"

"Stop bad-mouthing my fiancée, missy!"

Marius chuckled at the sisterly banter. He loved seeing Éponine with Azelma - being an only child, he had no idea what it was like to be a sibling. They seemed to get on okay, despite the odd blip, and stuck together. They both had similar personalities, loyal and feisty (although the latter was more Éponine).

He began to wonder if his and Éponine's children would have similar personalities.

Their children.

Wow.

Before his thoughts could continue any more, Éponine elbowed him in the side. He looked up to see a waiter expectantly waiting for him, and he quickly recited his and Éponine's orders.

"I am capable of ordering myself, you know."

"I know" Marius replied with a wink, not noticing Azelma's fake-vomiting. If it weren't for Enjolras clearing his throat hastily, he probably would have kissed her, which Azelma would have had a field trip with.

Their dinner arrived quickly and a mutual silence settled over their table as the group ate. Éponine was constantly glancing at Marius to make sure she got her cutlery correct, whilst Azelma was copying Joly. Might as well make some sort of effort with her manners now, especially since she had yet to meet Marius' infamous grandfather.

"So, when's the wedding?"

"We got engaged two hours ago Azelma, we've hardly had time to plan anything yet."

"Well, when roughly?"

Éponine looked at Marius, who looked back at her. "Autumn?" she suggested, to which Marius nodded. "Suits me fine" he replied with a reassuring smile. Azelma went back to her meal.

Enjolras had a quiet word with the waiters who collected their now-empty plated, leaving the rest of the table slightly mystified. That mystery was solved, however, when a sake was brought out with two candles on the top, and "congratulations" written on the top. Both Marius and Éponine blushed yet again as the restaurant applauded them, and even more so when they stood up in thanks.

"Give 'er a kiss then!"

"Go on lad!"

They laughed at the comments being called out. Marius leaned down to give Éponine a light kiss, causing another round of clapping before they sat down again.

The two of them blew out the candles and the cake was cut, Éponine ensuring her sister got a larger slice than her. Marius noted this, how even though they no longer lived on the streets (Azelma had had the fortune of having a young woman let her stay in one of her spare bedrooms at night for ten francs a week) she still gave what she could to her sister. He squeezed her hand again as they both dug into their cake, a comfortable silence falling.

"Waiter, two bottles of champagne and some water here please!" Enjolras called.

"Forget the water!" Grantaire added, to the disapproval of Enjolras.

"What about Azelma?"

"She can have champagne."

"She's twelve!"

"So? I had my first beer at seven and a half and I turned out alright."

"If you say so" Enjolras muttered. Azelma grinned at Grantaire who smiled back as he handed her a small glass of the sparkling liquid, not too much, but enough for her to feel included. They raised and clinked their glasses in the centre of the table with a smile from everyone.

"To the happy couple!"


	2. Gillenormand

**A/N: I've slept for like ten hours over the past three days so excuse any out of character-ness. I'm so tired and have to get up at like eight for drama rehearsals...help me XD Also, I don't know if Gillenormand would actually have been like this since I haven't read that part of the brick in great detail, but judging from his expression in the film, I'll go with it :P**

**As a side note, eight reviews already? I love you guys!**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP announcing that they're engaged to their family.**

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"Éponine, up."

"Mmnoteadytwakeupgoway."

"What?"

"I'm not ready to wake up go away" Éponine mumbled, burying her face in her pillow. Marius was already awake and dressed, leaning against the door slightly.

He walked over to her curled-up figure and picked up the duvet. Éponine groaned and tried to snatch it back, shivering slightly.

Marius walked over to her side of the bed and leaned gently over her, kissing the back of her head. "No choice, you brought it on yourself" he said, as he began to tickle her.

Éponine shrieked, kicking out and catching him in the arm, using his pause to roll over and subsequently fall out of the bed. "I'm up, I'm up" she muttered, picking herself off of the floor. Marius walked back towards her and helped her up.

"Get dressed, I'll toast some bread. Grandfather's expecting us at eleven, we need to leave in twenty minutes" he said with a smile, kissing her forehead and walking into the kitchen.

Éponine sighed, dragging her feet over to the wardrobe. She was usually active and energetic, but for some reason that morning she just didn't feel like doing anything.

That was probably down to meeting Marius' grandfather.

From what she'd heard, he was a somewhat, shall we say, difficult man - what would he think of her? A girl from the streets, no dowry, and con artists for parents. One dead sibling and two missing ones, and until moving in with Marius just two rooms to share between four, often sleeping on some hay in the corner. He was probably expecting someone like Cosette, who'd grown up pampered since she was ten years old (excluding her time at the inn). Someone who came from a respectable family, who had the looks and manners of the bourgeois. Someone with money for a respectable dowry, with connections in society.

She was none of those things. He had no reason to like her. And if he didn't like her, he would do what he could to stop her marrying Marius. Oh God, what if he managed to break their engagement? What would she so then?

Doing up the fastenings of her dress, she picked up a hairbrush and set about making her hair presentable. She was still dragging a comb thought it when Marius returned with the toast.

"Here, let me. You need to eat."

Éponine smiled at him, sitting down and wolfing the toast as he brushed through her hair gently. Despite the fact she was no longer living on the streets she still ate like she'd never see food again. The toast was gone within two minutes, making Marius smile.

When at last her hair was properly untangled, they put their shoes on and headed out into the streets. Gillenormand lived on the other side of Paris, so Marius had hired a cart, helping Éponine into it before following her up the step and settling himself next to her.

"Marius..."

"Yes?"

"What if your grandfather hates me?"

"He won't."

"But what if he does? I go against everything he believes in, I'm a street girl who steals for a living and had con artists for parents."

"Not anymore."

"He won't see it that way."

Marius sighed, turning to her. "Éponine, he is not going to think that. We don't even have to tell him if you don't want. We can go back to your life before, say that your parents keep an inn and that you lived there."

Éponine shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. I just don't want him to do something bad."

"Like?"

"Stop us getting married."

Marius looked at her, taking her hands and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Éponine Thénardier, you need to know right now that nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to stop me marrying you."

Éponine managed a brief smile, before she returned to looking out of the window.

It took about an hour to get there. Éponine hesitantly followed him out of the carriage, shaking slightly. Before they headed into sight of the house, Marius pulled her to the side. "Come here" he muttered gently, and she obliged, letting him pull her into a much-needed, firm but gentle hug, clasping her tightly. "Trust me. It'll all be okay" he whispered, kissing her hair. She nodded slightly, hesitantly stepping out of him embrace. He leaned down to kiss her again, before taking her hand and leading her up the pathway to Gillenormand's cottage.

The door was answered by a housekeeper, probably in her mid-forties. She led them through to where Marius' grandfather sat.

Éponine took a deep breath, feeling Marius squeeze her hand tightly. "Sit down, you two."

Both hastily obeyed, sitting on the sofa opposite.

"So. This is her."

"Yes, Grandfather, this is Éponine. Éponine, this is my grandfather."

"Pleasure, Monsieur" Éponine said, shaking the old mans hand.

"So you're the girl who's stolen my grandsons heart. I must say, I was expecting someone a little...higher up."

"Grandfather" Marius said, in a warning tone, giving Éponine's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"She's a bit skinny. Dowry size?"

"Her size doesn't matter and she has no dowry."

"You mean you are courting a girl with no dowry?! Good Lord, Marius, do you want to lead me to an early grave?"

"Why does it matter to you? And for the record, we aren't just courting, we're engaged to be married."

Gillenormand looked at him in surprise. "Married? You chose her over that Colette?"

"Yes I did, and it's Cosette."

"Why? Could have got yourself a lovely little deal there, her father has contacts, she has money."

"I don't care about all that, I'm not marrying her or anybody like her. I want to marry Éponine and marry her I shall."

"This is ridiculous."

"No, it isn't! You're being unjust!"

Whilst this furious debate was going on, Éponine was struggling not to burst in to tears. She wouldn't normally dream of being so weak, so vulnerable, but hearing these words from her soon-to-be grandfather-in-law was painful. She couldn't help her lifestyle, or the family she was born in to. She didn't choose that. And yet that seemed to be what was playing a main role in her relationship with Marius at that present time. It was genuinely beginning to get her down, no matter how hard she tried not to let it.

" Marius, think about it. Do you honestly, honestly want to marry this girl? With no dowry, no weight on her, probably working class and no contacts?"

"That doesn't matter to me. I'm in love with Éponine, and I am going to wed her with or without your blessing, no matter what you say."

"Give me time to think" Gillenormand said, waving a hand at them. Marius took Éponine's hand and led her into the next room, sitting her on the sofa and settling himself down next to her.

Almost immediately, she found refuge in his shirt, silently sobbing into his chest. His arms immediately locked around her, whispering comforts and stroking her hair gently.

"It doesn't matter you know, his opinion won't change mine in any way. I don't care what he thinks, you're beautiful, you're funny, and I love you, nothing he says will ever change that."

Éponine couldn't find the strength to say anything, just continued quietly crying into his shirt.

Marius kissed her head a couple if times. The last time he'd seen her this distraught was when he found out about her self-harm problem (which luckily she was almost fully recovered from), and to think that his own flesh and blood had done this to her made _him_ feel like crying.

Eventually, they were fetched by a maid, Éponine stopping to splash her face with cold water in an attempt to conceal the fact that she'd been crying.

They sat down once more, awaiting his grandfather's decision.

"Marry her if you want. It's your life, not mine."

Marius smiled, his arm snaking around Éponine's waist. "Thank you, Grandfather."

Éponine nodded and forced a smile. It was a start, at least. He didn't necessarily approve, but he'd accepted her. Approval could come later.

They said their goodbyes and got into the carriage, Marius asking the driver to take the scenic route so that they could discuss the afternoon.

"Well, that went...interestingly."

"He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you."

"Yes, he does! Did you see the way he looked at me? His face when he realised I had no money! Face it, Marius, he doesn't like me, and he never will. He'll always think you would have been better off with someone like Cosette, and when it comes to his reaction, I think he's right!"

Marius stated at her in shock. "Don't ever even think I'd rather be with Cosette than you, Éponine, she's nice enough but she isn't you. I'm marrying you, no matter what anybody else thinks, and I wouldn't change that for the world."

"I'm sorry. I guess I just wanted somebody in your family to like me."

"And he will. Just give him time."

Éponine nodded. "I will, or I'll try at any rate."

"Good" Marius replied, drawing her into a deep kiss as she shuffled closer to him.


	3. Dancing

**A/N: Hello there beautiful people. I am exceptionally excited since I'm going to Hickstead tomorrow which is a huuuuuge horse show jumping event in the UK - I'm going again in July, it's the Derby tomorrow and I am so excited, get to walk the course and everything - it's so amazing, the jumps are up to 1m70 at times (which is massive), and I just asdfghjkl I can't wait!**

**Just thought you'd like to know that XD**

**Prompts greatly appreciated (I've taken into account the remaining ones from Imagine so please don't re-submit)**

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**Prompt: Imagine Person A trying to teach Person B how to dance; Person B is horribly bad and keeps stepping on Person A's toes. After trying and failing, they end up falling over on each other in a mess of limbs and laughs.**

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"Come on, Éponine, it's not as difficult as it looks."

"You're lying."

"Maybe. But you won't know if you don't try it."

"I know I won't know, I'm perfectly happy not knowing."

"What about the wedding dance? You want that to go well, right?"

"You're so horrible to me."

"I know."

Éponine smiled. "Fine, but if I break your foot then no blaming me."

"Deal."

Marius took a step closer to her, placing his hand on her hip, guiding hers to his shoulder. He clasped her hand gently, Éponine looking up at him.

"So, what now?"

Marius smiled at her, gently squeezing her hip. "Follow me."

He began with a basic waltz, thinking it would be like the fairytales where she would follow his lead and it would all come naturally.

Well. Not quite.

They managed about four steps when Éponine fell over his foot.

Marius caught her by her hips before she fell. "Down boy" she joked, as Marius blushed, realising how close his hands were to certain areas. He swiftly moved them to her waist, helping her up.

"I did warn you I can't dance."

"It'll take practice. Come on."

"Hmm."

"I bet once you start you'll be brilliant, you've had your fall and that's fine, now you know what to avoid."

"Ever the optimist."

After Éponine had fallen over another eight times, Marius sighed.

"I can't do this" Éponine said, beginning to get frustrated. She knew people didn't just immediately go from failure to success in an hour, but she'd been hoping to improve just a little bit. Instead, she felt like she'd gotten worse.

"One more time, then we'll call it quits."

"Fine."

They resumed their dancing position, Marius kissing her forehead in hopes of spurring her on.

"So, forward, side, together, back, behind, front...there, not so difficult is it?"

Éponine smiled, finally feeling like she was getting somewhere at long last. They attempted it again, succeeding once more. Soon they were slowly making their way around the room, happy in the others success.

Until Éponine tripped on a table.

All that could be heard was a loud and cringeworthy click of her bones as she fell on him. She cried out in pain as her ankle remained wedged around the table, immediately causing Marius concern.

He swiftly shuffled down so that she could release her ankle, which was already beginning to swell. "Bloody hell" she muttered, squeezing her eyes tightly together. Marius immediately checked her ankle, which was bright red and beginning to swell.

"Éponine."

"Mmhmm?"

"Squeeze my hand tightly, I need to click your ankle back in to place."

"Oh God."

She did as he said, clutching his hand tightly as he gently wiggled her ankle. They heard a loud click, like before, and Éponine screamed as the bone went back to it's normal place. She swore loudly, trying to get herself under control.

Marius scooted back up to where her head was as soon as possible - for her to scream meant it must have been exceedingly painful. He pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you keep dancing" he said softly, stroking gently between her shoulder blades.

"Nope, it's okay-" she winced as another wave of pain came "-my decision to keep going, not your fault."

Marius helped her up and through to their kitchen, letting her lean against the wall as he sought out his faithful medical kit, which had mainly been used on Éponine. H dug out a bandage and some scissors, wrapping her ankle the way he'd been shown and snipping it at the right length. "No walking if you want this to heal quickly" he said, to which she sighed. Part of her wanted to protest, but if the pain was going to continue at the level it was then, she was getting rid of it as soon as possible.

Leaning against him as she limped through the flat, they both collapsed on the sofa. Marius gently pulled her down so that her head was resting in his lap, him playing with her hair absent-mindedly.

"I told you I couldn't dance."

"I know."

"And now I can't walk."

"I know."

"You're gonna have to carry me everywhere now, you know that, don't you?"

"I do now" Marius said, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to get injured."

"I know you didn't. I do, however, know that you're going to be at my beck and call until this heals."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

"Methinks the Marius is quoting too much."

"Methinks the Éponine needs feeding as soon as possible."

"Methinks the Éponine would prefer a kiss first."

"Methinks the Marius would be happy to oblige."

He leaned down and kissed her softly, or with the intention to be soft anyway. Éponine used his shirt to pull him closer, deepening their kiss. He picked her up, refusing to disconnect their lips, and placed her on the kitchen counter, his hands seeking her waist and hers finding their way to his hair.

It took at least five minutes before the realisation that they still needed to breathe set in, and they pulled apart. "Well, if me being carried everywhere means that happens every time you sit me down then I hope this ankle takes its time."

Marius smiled. "Sandwich?"

"If you've got cheese then count me in."

Marius kissed her again before heading to the cupboard, Éponine watching him. He swiftly made them both lunch and sat himself next to her as they ate.

"Marius..."

"Yes..."

"Since you're technically responsible for my ankle, does this mean you're going to be making me food all the time?"

"If you want."

Éponine simply grinned as she finished her sandwich and leaned her head against his shoulder.

If this was the kind of treatment she was going to receive, perhaps her ankle wasn't such a high price to pay after all.

**A/N: And I have to sleep now for tomorrow (eek!) so au reviour, little biscuits!**


	4. Park

**A/N: Sorry for the non existent update yesterday! I was so tired after Hickstead. It was so eventful, fourteen horses eliminated, seven falls, and one guy DISLOCATED HIS SHOULDER, AND THEN COMES BACK AND RIDES AGAIN ABOUT TEN MINUTES LATER WITH A DISLOCATED SHOULDER. I couldn't believe it, AND THEN HE FELL AGAIN.**

**So yeah. That guy must have been in a hell of a lot of pain! On the positive, GB won with Philip Miller (literally the only clear round of the day) :D I was rooting for Tina Fletcher, she was doing well until the Derby Bank, where her horse Promised Land refused, she hung on to him for almost fifteen seconds before falling. She did so well all the same though :)**

**Okay, horsey talk over XD**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP spending an afternoon together in a secluded corner of a park. (This is essentially a bit of a fluff fest, enjoy :P)**

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"I'm not ready!"

"Come on Éponine."

"Can't I have one more day?"

"No. We'll go to the park on the other side, so you can test your ankle walking down to the cart and again walking in the park, and if it hurts we can sit down, I've packed a blanket and some food."

"If it hurts then you're carrying me."

"Fine."

Marius wrapped an arm around her waist as she stood up, putting weight on her bad ankle for the first time in a week. She cringed at first but began to get used to it, leaning on him when she needed to.

Giving him a thumbs up, he let go of her waist and she tentatively took a few steps on her own. "I'll be fine" she said with a grin, giving him a quick kiss.

He picked up the package containing their blanket and some food, following her out of the door and down to where the cart he'd rented stood. She got up into it, followed by him, and they set off.

Éponine had a turn at guiding the reins, Marius placing his hands on top of hers, helping her steer. They laughed the journey away, swapping jokes and occasionally poking each other, Éponine's head leaning on his shoulder.

It didn't take long for them to reach the large park Marius had been talking about. He lifted their bag of goodies over his shoulder and then, instead of helping Éponine out, picking her up by her waist and spinning her around before placing her on the ground, leaving their cart where the others were.

Being quite a sunny day, with only a slight breeze, they were expecting it to be fairly busy, although the amount of people there surpassed both of their expectations. It was difficult to find a place to see that somebody wasn't in, let alone sit down and have a conversation in.

Marius placed a hand delicately on Éponine's waist, leading her away from the crowds. She tried to hide it all the time, but large amounts of people freaked her out, as she ha a slight fear of getting lost.

They wandered around for almost half an hour, Éponine beginning to limp slightly as her ankle started playing up. Marius noticed and tightened his grip on her, offering more support.

After a while, they found a small and empty garden-like area. It was surrounded by a brick wall, a slightly rusty iron gate at the entrance. Seeing no reason not to, the two of them opened the gate and headed inside.

There was a tall, sweeping willow tree in one corner, a bench on the side and several other flowers and trees dotted about, a pathway leading around the edge. Marius was planning to head to the bench, but Éponine stopped him and headed for the willow tree. They parted the fronds and passed through.

"Perfect."

Marius spread out the blanket, which they proceeded to sit on, Éponine shuffling up against him. He smiled, kissing her cheek as they laid out the food.

A comfortable silence settled over the couple as they ate, neither having had a bite to eat all day. Marius watched Éponine as she ate, occasionally brushing hair back behind her ear that had fallen into her face. She smiled back at him, often resembling a hamster as her cheeks were filled with food.

It didn't take long to demolish the entire meal, both of them putting the newspaper the food had been placed on back in the bag. Marius leaned back against the trunk of the tree, Éponine finding her way on top of him as she lay with him, back pressed into his chest and his arms around her. Her arms rested on top of his as she tucked the top of her head under his chin.

"It's so peaceful here."

"I know, especially when you consider how crowded it is out there."

"I'm glad we found this spot."

"Me too, I hate big crowds."

"I know. It's because you don't like being lost, isn't it?"

Éponine nodded. "Ever since I was young, when I first took to the streets, I made sure to stay where I knew. Luckily for me I now know my way around half of Paris. Whenever I'm somewhere I don't know I just get very uneasy, I suppose because, if something should happen, I wouldn't know where to go."

"Hopefully nothing will happen."

Éponine shrugged. "Hopefully. Though that's not always guaranteed, especially with the people I used to know."

Marius kissed her hairline gently. "Then we'll have to make sure we don't bump into anybody you used to know."

She smiled.

"Um, Marius?"

"Yes?"

"I-I wondered about what we'd do after the wedding, I mean, living arrangements and all that."

"I would have thought we'd stay at the flat. Why, would you prefer to move?"

"No, it's not that. I meant later on, if we ever have, you know, if we ever start a family."

Marius nodded. "I understand now. It depends on how many children you want."

"We want. Not me."

"You're the one who has to carry them around for nine months at a time, and has to endure the pain of giving birth to them, not me."

"True, but you need a say in it too."

"Okay, how many were you wanting?"

"I'm not sure. Two or three, maybe, no higher. I don't know if I could cope with any more, you hear and see so many with six or seven children now, I don't think I could manage."

"That sounds perfect to me. In that case, I'm thinking a small house or a cottage. Since there's a chance we'd have two or more of the same gender, they could probably share a room, as would we, so plus the possible third, a kitchen, a living area and a lounge, six rooms should be enough."

"It sounds so formal, doesn't it? Planning a home. Perfect, but formal."

Marius smiled, hugging her tighter to him. "I wonder what they'll look like."

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I've tried picturing it before but I can never tell."

"Me too. Usually they have your hair and my eyes."

Éponine smiled, closing her eyes and picturing Marius' description. "And yet the image in my head is the opposite, your hair and my eyes."

Marius smiled again. His hand gently slipped under her chemise, lying on her stomach.

"No corset?"

"Couldn't be bothered. If that hand starts wandering then I will hurt you. Very badly."

Marius chuckled, his fingertips ghosting gently across her skin. Despite having put a lot more weight on since her time on the streets her stomach was still completely flat. He spread the palm of his hand out on it tenderly, imagining when it would be bulging with the weight of their child inside.

"I'll get so fat when I'm pregnant."

"When. I like that term."

"I'll still get fat."

"There's a difference between being fat and being pregnant. Pregnancies don't lead to you being fat, just temporarily larger."

Éponine rolled her eyes. "Same thing, in my eyes."

"Not in the eyes of the rest of the world."

"I know I joke about it but you do know how much I appreciate those little comments, don't you?"

"I do. And I'm more than happy to give them."

Éponine leaned back against him, closing her eyes once more. His hand was still on her stomach, moving in a circular motion as his other hand clasped hers tightly. He heard the sound of a gate opening and removed his hand, covering her stomach with the fabric of her blouse and placing his arm around her waist once more.

A small child ran in to their space, stopping when she saw them. The mother came soon after, spotting the two of them.

"Newly weds?" she asked.

"Engaged" they replied in unison.

The woman smiled at them. "I remember my husband and me at that stage. If you want some advice, don't have children too early on. Enjoy the time you've got together. Once they reach the toddler stage it all goes out the window" she said, taking her daughters hand.

Éponine smiled. "What's her name?"

"Abrielle."

"Lovely name."

"Thank you. I'll leave the two of you in peace for a bit. All the best for the future, dears."

And with that, she left.

Éponine turned over so she was looking up at Marius. "That was unexpected."

"Sweet, though."

She nodded, leaning up to kiss him. He kissed her back gently, stroking her hair as he did. Her hands found their way to the base of his neck as she teased apart his lips, his other hand sliding down to her hip. Only the sound of the gate opening once more ten minutes later broke them apart, both breathing heavily.

"Well then, soon-to-be Madame Pontmercy, I suggest we begin to make our way home."

Éponine grinned, slipping her arm through his. "I couldn't agree more, Monsieur Pontmercy."

And with that, they headed back to the cart.


	5. Truth or Dare

**A/N: Wedding bells will be ringing in a few chapters... :P Hopefully I can ge**t **some writing done tomorrow so you guys might get a double on Wednesday (no promises though).**

**Also, for those of you who also read Madness, you'll have noticed it's not been updated in a long time. I'm so sorry about that but I've had the biggest case of writers block I've ever had for anything. Hopefully I can get past it soon but it's kind of on a temporary hiatus for now. Sorry!**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP playing Truth or Dare. Bonus if it includes their friends.**

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"I can't believe you dragged me in to this."

"Neither can I, Marble."

"Stop calling me that!"

Grantaire rolled his eyes as they sat in a circle. Éponine was in between Marius and Azelma, with Grantaire next to Azelma and Enjolras next to him, Joly across. They'd previously been planning to go out to dinner somewhere, but the restaurant had been full, so Azelma had suggested an evening in.

With the way things were headed, it was sure to be a good one.

Éponine spun the glass bottle Grantaire had donated, landing on Enjolras.

"Truth or dare?"

"It had to be, didn't it."

"Answer. Or I'll start calling you Marble and all."

"Truth."

"Has there ever been a day you haven't worn that red vest?"

"Not to my memory, no."

"Well, that was boring" Azelma said. Éponine hit her lightly on the arm, as Enjolras spun the bottle, landing on Joly.

"Truth or dare?"

"Hmm...dare."

"Take a drink out of the same bottle as Grantaire has used."

"But-but-germs!"

"Do it."

Joly hesitantly took a the bottle. He took a quick and brief swig of it, handing it back to Grantaire as he rubbed at his mouth furiously. "If I get sick, you're getting the blame."

The game went on, beginning with fairly tame questions, but as people got braver, more dares came out. They paused for some snacks, Éponine and Marius getting up and going into the kitchen to get some.

Taking her completely by surprise, Marius pushed her gently up against the wall and kissed her quickly but deeply. Both of them were quite flushed when he pulled away, Éponine staring at him with a small smile. "And what was that for?"

"Well, with the others around, especially Azelma, I wouldn't be able to be too affectionate with you, so might as well make the most of this short space of time."

Éponine grinned at his logic. "Get the food then, we'll have a couple of minutes.

They soon had a selection of cheeses and biscuits waiting on the counter, before Marius happily drew her to him and they resumed their earlier affections.

After they broke apart from their kiss, Éponine stepped forwards and simply rested her head on his chest, feeling his arms lock around her and wrapping her own around him. They didn't realise quite how physically affectionate they usually were until that point where they couldn't be, simply clutching at each other tightly in order to get through the upcoming hours.

They returned to the others with the food soon after, sitting down again, not holding hands but letting their pinky fingers entwine with eachother.

"I suggest things get a little more interesting from here on" Azelma declared, causing a chuckle from the rest of the players.

She spun the bottle, and it landed on Marius.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Azelma grinned wickedly. "I dare you to wear one of Éponine's corsets and show us."

Éponine and Grantaire exploded into laughter, Joly rolling his eyes and even Enjolras having to smile. "Don't want to ruin your reputation in front of your friends, your fiancée and your soon to be sister in law, eh?"

Éponine took hold of Marius' arm, dragging him through to their bedroom with determination.

"I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Get it over with. Waistcoat off, mister."

Marius began unbuttoning his waistcoat and shirt as Éponine picked up one of her corsets from their wardrobe. "Slight warning, you may lose consciousness from not being able to breathe."

"That's reassuring."

"Isn't it just? Arms up."

Marius did as he was told, Éponine slipping (or more like forcing) the corset on, loosening the strings as far as they would go. She tied them loosely, even then Marius finding it hard to breathe properly.

"Bloody hell, how do you wear this on a daily basis? I feel like I'm going to suffocate!"

"If you can talk, you're fine. Come on."

Marius meekly followed Éponine through, the entire room bursting into fits of laughter at the sight of a very sorry-looking Marius all trussed up in a corset. He looked absolutely ridiculous, Azelma was almost wetting herself laughing.

As soon as Éponine deemed he'd been humiliated long enough, she helped him get it off, unable to resist lightly running her fingers over the bare skin of his shoulders, pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades as she handed him his shirt and waistcoat. He smiled as she did, reaching a hand behind him to squeeze the top of her arm.

Once he was presentable again they made their way back through. "That's going to be tough to beat" Grantaire commented, to which the others agreed.

The game progressed, the food rapidly disappearing. Ignoring that they weren't the only ones in the room, Marius and Éponine had shuffled closer to each other, their sides pressed tightly together.

The bottle landed on Éponine, who groaned inwardly.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth, I've already done a dare."

"When did you first realise you were in love with Marius?"

"I was fifteen. He saved me from Montparnasse assaulting me and my father beating me. I stayed at his that night, and he let me share his bed-" the boys would have poked fun had the circumstances not been so serious "-and I woke up at about three, with a nightmare, but instead of getting annoyed and throwing me out for waking him, like I expected, he just hugged me and kissed my head until I calmed down. I'd always kind of fancied him since we met but that was when I knew it was more than a crush."

The room was silent. Even Azelma couldn't deny it was sweet. Marius wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

"Well, I think we'd best hear your side to it then" Joly piped up, looking at Marius.

"As you all know I was a bit slower. It was the barricades, when 'Ponine almost died, that I realised how much I cared about her, and when we discovered she would live was when I realised just how much I loved her."

Éponine couldn't help but smile. It was oddly sentimental for the group, and seemed a perfect way to end the evening. The boys got up to leave, wishing the others goodnight, and Azelma left soon after, heading to her nightly room. Marius helped clean up the room they'd been sitting in, making her laugh when he tickled her gently. It wasn't long before they were both changed and lying next to eachother, quietly thinking about the days events and simply enjoying being in the others company.

"Marius."

"Mm?"

"You said you realised you loved me when I was going to live, at the barricades."

"Yep."

"That was about a year and a half ago. We've been properly together for eleven months now. So, you were in love with me for seven months, and didn't tell me?"

"That's about the size of it."

"Why? I told you I loved you at the barricades."

"I don't really know why, I just wanted to wait until the right time. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course I mind, we could have been together half a year earlier."

"Oh God, you're not angry at me, are you?"

Éponine poked him playfully in the chest. "Of course not. I just wondered why, that's all."

"I just wanted the time to be right, as I said."

"Well, at least it's the right time now."

Marius nodded, kissing her forehead, her temple and her hairline as she settled down against his chest. "It most definitely, definitely is" he muttered as she slipped off into sleep, blowing out the candle and shuffled down slightly, keeping her encased in his arms as he dropped off into slumber.


	6. Peace

**A/N: For the first time ever I have nothing to write here. So hello. And enjoy.**

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**Prompt (thank you I Am Your Singer 2006): Imagine Éponine and Cosette making peace with each other.**

* * *

Éponine yawned loudly.

Her and Marius were still in bed, her shuffled up against him with her back against his chest, his arm draped lazily over her stomach and their legs entwining. Marius had the day off, and they'd spent the entire morning sleeping and talking about random nonsense.

She smiled as she felt him nuzzle his head into the top of hers. "We really need to get up, you know, it's almost half past one."

"I know, but I'm happy here" Marius replied, gently tightening his hold on her and drawing her even closer to him. He pressed a kiss to her head, before burying his nose in her hair once more. Éponine felt herself slipping off once more in to what would be an exceptionally comfortable sleep when they heard a knock at the door.

The pair groaned in unison.

"Just a minute" Éponine called, as they both sprung out of bed. Checking Marius wasn't looking she swiftly got out of her night things and shoved her corset on, yanking the strings and hastily tying them, slipping her dress over the top. She dragged a brush through her hair and splashed her eyes, Marius following, and sprinted to the door.

"So sorry, we overslept, and-"

Cosette was standing there, looking a bit doubtful.

"Oh. It's you."

"That would be the case" Cosette said.

Éponine looked at her hesitantly, not entirely sure what to say. Marius, curious to see what was happening, stepped out into the hall. He saw who it was and frowned slightly, walking up to Éponine and placing a hand protectively on her shoulder.

"Hello, Cosette" he said icily. Cosette gave a quick smile in return, looking at the floor.

"Well, I guess you'd better come in" Éponine said, opening the door a bit wider. Marius' arm moved to her waist as Cosette stepped into their hall.

The two of them led the way into their lounge.

"So, what do you want?"

"I guess I wanted to make peace with you. Both of you. I-I've moved on. Really, I have."

Marius looked at her. "Hmm."

"Let her talk."

Marius looked at Éponine in slight surprise, not expecting her to want to give Cosette a chance. He shrugged and gently squeezed her waist in support.

"Um, would you mind if I spoke alone with Éponine for a bit?"

Marius looked down at his fiancée, still clearly doubtful. "I'll be alright" she said with a tight smile, giving him a quick peck as he got up to leave.

"So, I guess you're officially together then."

"We have been for eleven months, you just didn't exactly welcome that fact. And we're not just together, we're engaged."

"Oh. Congratulations, I suppose."

"Thank you."

"So. I came here to apologise."

"You did, I'm waiting."

"I'm sorry. For trying to split you up earlier. For not accepting you were together. For trying to take Marius back from you."

"For snogging him in front of me" Éponine said, an eyebrow raised.

Cosette blushed slightly. "That too."

"I guess I have things to apologise for too."

"What do you mean?"

"The inn. The way me and Azelma treated you."

"It's okay. You were just acting like your parents. I don't blame you."

"We still shouldn't have acted like that."

Cosette shrugged. "I guess my behaviour was worse."

"Not really."

They fell into a slightly awkward silence.

"Would you like some tea?"

"That'd be nice, thank you."

Éponine got up and headed through to the kitchen, where Marius was. She just gave him a smile as she filled the kettle. As she turned to the sink, she felt his arms slip around her waist. Once she'd placed the kettle down, with the intention of getting a couple of cups, when Marius lifted her off her feet, spinning her around as she laughed. When he set her down, she turned around and kissed him lightly, filling the teacups.

Cosette, meanwhile, was looking around the flat. She could hear them laughing together, but instead of feeling sad or jealous, she felt...happy. Happy that they were happy.

She walked over to their bookshelf, which was decorated with pictures. There was a sketch of Éponine, dated shortly before the barricades. A sketch of Marius next to it, dated more recently, both on either side of yet another sketch of the Musain. Several cards were there, but they weren't what caught her eye.

What did catch her eye was a proper pencil drawing of the two of them. Marius had his arm around her shoulders, and it was clearly drawn in the moment rather than them properly posing. Both appeared to be laughing, looking into each others eyes. It was winter, snow around them and both bundled up, Éponine wearing what Cosette recognised as Marius' favourite scarf. They looked genuinely happy, and more than that, like a couple deeply in love with each other.

"Our six month anniversary."

Éponine's voice made her jump, turning around to see the brunette watching her, a tray of a teapot and two cups in her hands.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be ridiculous, you can look around if you want. I know our flat isn't much compared to your house, but hey."

"So, it was your half-year anniversary?"

Éponine nodded, smiling. "Jehan drew it - one of Marius' friends - outside the café. January thirteenth."

"You look happy."

"We were. We still are."

"Marius looks happy too. Happier than when we were together."

"I suppose you two just weren't meant to be."

Cosette shrugged. "I'm seeing someone else now."

"And you're happy?"

She smiled. "I am."

Éponine sat next to her on the sofa, the previous awkwardness having disappeared. "So, tell all" she said with a smile.

Cosette grinned at her. "He's a lawyer, called Frances Delacour."

"Cosette Delacour, it's got quite a nice ring to it, actually" Éponine teased.

"Éponine! We've only been seeing each other for a month!"

"Ssh. So, what's he like?"

"Tall. Taller than Marius by a couple of inches. Handsome too. Black hair, blue eyes."

"Got yourself a right fancy man there then. A handsome lawyer. Not bad."

Cosette giggled. "So, we're alright then?"

"Yeah. One rule though."

"Mm?"

"I get to meet this Frances Delacour."

"Agreed."

"Oh, and one more."

"Yes?"

"You come with me and Azelma for my dress fitting next Friday."

"Deal."

Unexpectedly, Éponine leaned forwards to draw her into a hug. Cosette was shocked at first but soon returned it. "You're not as skinny as you were, thank heavens."

"Marius takes care of me."

"I can tell. I worried about you, in the more recent months. I hadn't seen you in a while, but the last time I saw you you were far too thin to be healthy."

"I think I was still on the streets then."

"You were."

They drew apart, smiling at each other. Marius walked back in, fixing a smile on his features. "All resolved?"

They nodded.

"Good. And somebody's asking for you, a Francis Dela-something?"

"My-my boyfriend."

"Ah. Good, good for you."

Cosette and Éponine stood up. Cosette walked over to Marius and offered her hand, which he shook. Éponine smiled at the sight, tucking herself into Marius' side as they followed their guest up the hallway.

"Oh, hello Francis, this is my friend Éponine and her fiancée, Marius."

"A pleasure. My Cosette used to step out with you, didn't she?"

Marius blushed. "For a bit. No worries, she's all yours now - not that I mean I don't like her or anything, just that I have Éponine now, and I love her, and-"

"Marius?" Éponine said.

"Yes?'

"Stop talking."

Cosette and Francis chuckled. "So, Cosette, I'll see you on Friday?"

Cosette smiled. "Take care."

"And you."

As Francis and Cosette departed, Marius shut the door. "Whew. That was, unexpected."

"Not gonna lie, she's got herself a man and a half there."

"Well, excuse me."

Éponine laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving you any time soon" she said, leaning up to kiss him. "Good" he replied, taking her hand.

"Tea and bed, I think."

"Couldn't agree more."

And with that, they headed to the kitchen together, Éponine slipping her arm through his as they walked through the door.


	7. Train

**A/N: Hello there gorgeous people. I don't really have anything to say here other than I may or may not have published a li'l one-shot earlier (*cough*Confession*cough*) so...yeah. Reviews, perhaps? :P**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP on a train ride. Person A is looking out the window, admiring the sites that they pass. Person B is struggling to stay awake. When Person A sees this, they wrap their arm around Person B's shoulder and Person B snuggles up to Person A and falls asleep. Eventually, Person A falls asleep as well, snuggling against Person B. (thank you so much MissFiyerabaMeponine for help with Marius' relationship with his father, I'm clueless!)**

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"How much longer?"

"About two hours."

Éponine nodded, stifling a yawn. They'd been to visit George's Pontmercy's grave in the morning, which was almost four hours away from where they lived in Paris.

It had been a fairly emotional morning. Marius had spent a couple of hours sitting with Éponine by his fathers grave, just talking to it. He'd been a bit worried that Éponine would think him mad, but it turned out she still did the same thing with Gavroche, finding it a source of comfort. She simply sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder as Marius "introduced" her, and told his father about their engagement.

When they got up to leave, they had to stop. Marius was clearly upset, and Éponine made him sit down on a bench whilst she held him tightly, ruffling up his hair every now and then in order to get a smile. She knew the pain of losing someone close, and even though Marius hadn't known his father, that didn't make it any less painful.

Grief is a funny thing. It never goes away. Like most things, it can get better, it can become less frequent, but it will never completely go away. It can come back at any point, for any reason. And when it does, it's almost as bad as when it came in the first place.

Once Marius had consoled himself, Éponine pulled him into another hug. "Ssh, he's okay now. He wouldn't want you to be sad" she whispered in his ear gently, feeling a nod in reply.

When they drew apart, Marius gently reached up a hand to stroke her cheek. "Why is it you always know exactly what to say?"

Éponine smiled, leaning in to his touch. "Magic. Now I suggest some lunch?"

He smiled, kissing her briefly. "Couldn't agree more."

They'd found a small but friendly café, not too expensive. Éponine had insisted they sit outside, which Marius agreed to. They ended up sharing a plate of cheese and ham sandwiches, which disappeared in minutes, neither of them realising just how hungry they were.

"Tell me about him."

"Who?"

"Your father. I find it helps to talk. It helped with me and Gavroche anyway."

"Well, I never actually met him. You see, I always wrote to him, yet I never received a reply. I grew to hate him at first."

"Understandable. I'd be a bit angry if my letters never got a response."

"I didn't know it at the time, but my grandfather had actually been keeping his responses from me. When I was older, he told me to visit him, after the truth came out. I didn't get there in time. He died shortly before I got there, of illness."

"I'm sorry to hear that" Éponine said, reaching across the table to take his hand in hers.

"Apparently my grandfather told him that if he tried to meet me then he would disinherit me. So my father used to hide behind a pillar in order to see me. He also fought at the battle of Waterloo. He was a war hero. I've always looked up to him since."

Éponine felt tears beginning to come as she took hold of his other hand. She wasn't entirely sure what to say, so she just squeezed his hands tightly, having not known of this part of his history.

Marius smiled gratefully at her, kissing her hands. "You're right, it does help. To talk, I mean."

"Of course I'm right, would you ever dare to think otherwise?" Éponine teased, getting a small chuckle from him.

"Never in a million years."

They'd spent a couple of hours walking around the village, before returning to Georges Pontmercy's grave, where Éponine gave Marius some privacy to say his goodbyes.

They'd taken the train both there and back, which was a new experience for Éponine - they'd ended up having a carriage to themselves, which was a bonus, since they could talk about things without the fear of being overheard. And any physical affection wasn't prohibited, a fact they were taking full advantage of.

"So, you're having your dress fitted on Friday?"

Éponine grinned. "I am."

"It's odd to think that this time next month we'll be a married couple."

"It is rather strange, isn't it? I mean, I guess we're technically one already, living together and all that, but I can't wait until it's official."

"Me neither, I can remove the soon-to-be when I call you soon-to-be Madame Pontmercy."

Both of them smiled at the thought. Éponine yawned again loudly, Marius placing his arm around her shoulders. "We've got a couple of hours and you're clearly tired, go to sleep."

"Don't want to."

"You'll feel better for it."

"This is my first train journey though, I don't want to miss it."

"We can go on a train again, you know."

"Meh. It won't be the same though."

Marius chuckled as he lifted the armrest between them, allowing Éponine to snuggle herself closer to him. She was always the most affectionate when one of them needed comforting, when she was about to fall asleep or when she'd just woken up. Marius turned so that he was lying across the seats with her face-down on top of him, using him as a mattress.

He gently started playing with her hair, stroking her back whilst he did as he thought about the days events. He'd been told he looked like his father by one of Georges' friends, but he'd never seen him in flesh.

His thoughts faded away as Éponine began snoring her tiny, adorable snores. She always denied them when she woke up, but they were undoubtedly there, and made him smile every time. Kissing the top of her head several times, he slipped off into sleep himself, keeping a tight but tender hold on her for the rest of the journey.


	8. Dress

**A/N: Oh my God it's their wedding scene tomorrow...I'm really scared to write it in case I don't write it well XD Oh well, my writing fears aside, hope you enjoy this one :) Prompts always welcomed!**

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**Prompt: (Thank you I Am Your Singer 2006) Imagine Éponine getting fitted for her wedding dress.**

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"Wake up, 'Ponine."

"No."

Marius chuckled to himself as he shook her shoulder. "Have you forgotten what today is?"

"Apparently."

"You're getting your dress fitted."

That got her up.

Éponine bolted upright so quickly she found herself face-first in Marius' chest, knocking him over and falling on top of him. "Hello there" he teased, kissing the end of her nose, making her smile.

"Hello to you too."

He pulled her in for a good-morning kiss, stroking her back through the fabric of her nightgown. She kissed him back until the broke apart, before rolling off of him and on to the floor.

"Why did I agree to get it done so early?"

"I hardly think half past ten is early."

"It's half past ten?"

"Yep."

Éponine got up, Marius getting up with her. "I'm teasing you, it's just gone nine. Now get back to bed, I'll bring you through some breakfast" he said, kissing her forehead.

"I thought it was meant to be women in the kitchen?"

"So people say, but I have a strong disliking of stereotypes. Plus, any man who tried to force you into cooking for him would likely have his dinner spiked."

"True."

Marius gave her another smile as she sank back into her pillow. Marius was the only person she'd let take care of her like this - if anybody else tried she'd have hit them with a saucepan. Yet she found she rather liked being able to depend on somebody else rather than herself every once in a while. Plus she couldn't cook to save her life, so it was probably for the best anyway.

True to his word, Marius returned with a tray of toast, bacon and egg, a book tucked under his arm for him to read. He settled himself next to her as she practically inhaled everything. Every morning she appeared to be more ravenous than the night before - how she'd gotten by on the streets he still didn't know.

Nevertheless they ate and read in silence. Éponine placed the tray at the foot of the bed when she was finished, and shuffled up closer to him. "What ya reading?"

"Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen."

"What's it about?"

"I haven't the faintest clue, I only started it this morning."

"Oh, fair enough. I guess I need to get dressed then."

Marius gave her a quick kiss before she got out of bed. She was looking forwards to seeing Cosette again - it still felt odd that they were getting along after the previous events - and padded over to the wardrobe.

"Red or dark blue?"

"Red, brings out your eyes."

Éponine nodded, picking out the dress and her corset, heading through to the bathroom to get changed.

Cosette turned up at around ten. Azelma had been planning to come, but she'd decided not to in the end, explaining to Éponine that she wanted to wait until the big day to see it.

Marius had business in town and agreed to drop them off in a cart. He sat in the middle in order to guide the horses, Éponine slipping her arm through his as the three of them talked away the journey.

"Cosette, could you keep the dress at your home? I don't want it to get ruined."

"Sure, if you'd like."

Éponine smiled at her as the cart drew to a stop. "I'll see you in a bit" Marius said, quickly giving Cosette a kiss on the cheek and Éponine one on the lips as they got out of the cart, giggling like teenagers.

"Good morning, girls. Is one of you Éponine?"

"That's me, what should I call you?"

"My name is Martha. So, getting married?" Martha asked, receiving a nod and a grin in response.

She was a small and slightly chubby woman in her mid-thirties, with a cheerful face and personality to match. It was clear she was not from France by her accent. Éponine guessed she was from England.

"And who is this?"

"Cosette, one of my bridesmaids."

"You want me to be your bridesmaid?"

"I do."

Cosette smiled, squeezing Éponine's hand.

"So then, Éponine, what were you looking for?"

"Something simple, not too expensive but nice."

Martha nodded, whisking the two of them through to a curtained off room. She took Éponine's measurements and disappeared for a bit. Cosette sat next to her. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"For letting me be one of your bridesmaids."

Éponine smiled. "Any time, 'Sette."

Cosette smiled back at her.

Whilst they were waiting for Martha to return, Éponine began to think about her new-found friendship. She'd never had a female friend before, outside of Azelma, and it was a fairly surreal experience. She hadn't expected to have one, especially not a pretty, powdery upper-class one. But she was glad for it all the time.

Martha soon returned with three candidate dresses, all in white. "If you need help, just call" she said, beckoning to Cosette to follow her out and pulling the curtain across.

The first one was a little more elaborate than she'd hoped, but still lovely. A decorative bodice, with a full and puffed-out skirt. She slipped it on, taking her time, and having a look in the mirror.

Whilst she wasn't too keen on it, she decided to get a second opinion anyway. So she walked through the curtain to the eagerly awaiting eyes of her two companions.

Before Martha could even open her mouth, Cosette shook her head. "Beautiful, but not for you. Where you're naturally thin, the skirt accentuates that for all the wrong reasons."

Martha looked at her. "Not that I'm complaining since I agree, but where did you learn to assess so quickly?"

"I go dress shopping fairly frequently" Cosette shrugged. "Try the second" she said to Éponine, who nodded.

It didn't take long before Éponine had the second one on. The skirt was much less voluminous and the top clinged a little more to her corset, accentuating her waist.

She drew back the curtain and stepped out.

Cosette looked her up and down again. "Better, but not quite. Again, the dress is stunning, but I think it's too thin around the legs. I reckon the best option would be for a skirt that puffs a little more but nowhere near as much as the other."

Martha just nodded her agreement, surprised at how accurate Cosette was.

Éponine returned to the room to try on the third.

The bodice again was plain and simple, a small embroidered design around the collar and sleeves, which were just long enough to cover her remaining scars. The dress had a slight flare to the bottom it, but not over the top, just enough to stop it looking clingy. The train wasn't over the top, perhaps a metre and a half long.

She stepped out, and both Cosette and Martha immediately smiled. "Perfect" was all they said, and Éponine grinned widely.

"How much?"

"Sixty francs. Although it suits you better than anyone else who's tried it on, so lets go for fifty."

"Taken."

Éponine only just got dressed in her normal clothes in time, Marius pulling up outside. The dress was concealed in a black zip-up case, which Cosette was now holding.

"Is that him?"

Éponine nodded.

"Get him in. I want to see the two of you together."

Before Éponine could protest, Martha had already beckoned Marius in.

"All done?"

Éponine smiled up at him. "Yep" she said, reaching up to give him a kiss. "Brilliant" was his reply, as they turned to Martha and Cosette, Marius' arm finding her waist as usual.

They bid Martha a goodbye, and headed back. Cosette gave both of them a kiss on the cheek when they dropped her at 55 Rue Plumet, where she disappeared inside with the dress. Marius returned the cart and they walked the rest of the distance.

"So. Pleased?"

"I've never been happier, honestly."

"Good" Marius replied. "I can't wait to see it."

"I think you'll like it."

"If you're wearing it, I definitely will."

"Stop being so cheesy, mister."

Marius simply leaned down to kiss her again, before they returned to their flat for a nice evening of food, books and a lot more planning.


	9. Ceremony

**A/N: And here it is, part 1 (yeah, double update for definite today). Eeeek! Hope you enjoy! :D**

**And also yes, Azelma does now have a random cockney accent. Tribute to Gavroche. And I'm not familiar with Catholic weddings as I am not one myself, but I've used the Internet and hopefully it's all correct, if not, let me know :) I think I've missed a few details so apologies there.**

**I presume they would have been Catholic, given the time. I know I said Éponine wasn't religious earlier on but for a Catholic to marry a non-Catholic started getting more complicated than I expected, so yeah.**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your OTP on their wedding day.**

* * *

Éponine's eyes snapped open.

She'd been wanting to stay at the flat, as always, hoping to wake up in Marius' arms on the morning of their wedding. But he'd been irritatingly traditional, and she was sleeping over at Cosette's for the night instead. She'd decided to blame Gillenormand for his upholding of tradition.

Seemingly forgetting this, she rolled over anyway, expecting to be greeted by the warm and sleepy body of her fiancée.

Instead, she felt the floor sharply colliding with her.

Brilliant.

Cosette appeared at the door moments later. "I heard a thud-Éppy? You okay?"

"Mm."

Éponine stood up, rubbing her eyes. "It's weird not having him here, that's all."

"Well, he's going to be with you every other morning, remember."

Éponine smiled as she followed Cosette down to their dining room for breakfast.

They were planning for her to get dressed and have her hair done at Cosette's, who was pretty much an expert, and had hired a proper carriage (courtesy of Monsieur Fauchelevant) to get them there. Already Éponine was feeling slightly comparable to some sort of princess, and was happily making the most of it.

Breakfast was pleasant, Fauchelevant/Valjean (although of course neither knew his actual identity) asking them both how they slept with a friendly smile. Éponine was silently comparing him to her own father, marvelling at how different they were. For a start, if it was Thénardier, she would most definitely not be marrying Marius. He'd have paired her off with Montparnasse, most likely. Secondly, she'd be expected to do and wear whatever he told her to do, and a welcome breakfast was most definitely not on the list.

"Éppy?"

"Hmm?"

"You've been staring at a napkin for five minutes straight now."

"Oh, sorry, just thinking."

"About what?"

Éponine looked up, noticing her father was gone. "About how different your father is to mine. And how the morning would have been, well, the whole situation really, if my father had his way."

"Want to tell me?"

Éponine took a breath. She didn't usually confide in anyone, but sod it, it was her wedding day and worries like this were not going to bother her. "Well, for a start, I'd not be marrying Marius. That'd be the first thing he'd do, likely block me from all contact with him."

"Who would you be marrying?"

"One of his gang. Montparnasse probably. I know it doesn't sound as bad as it may be, but you have no idea what that man is capable of. And has done."

"Is he the tall one in the top hat? What's he done?"

"Yes, that him. And in no detail he's beaten me regularly and forced himself on me several times. So I don't really want to end up with him."

"That's horrible!"

"Well, it's happened, so it'd happen again. I wouldn't have been allowed to wear or have my hair as I wanted, nor would I have been allowed to have you or Azelma there. And I wouldn't have eaten. Plus, there'd be cash for him in it somewhere, which would be why he agreed in the first place."

Cosette gave her a hug. "Well, now that's out in the open, focus on the fact that none of that is happening, nor is it going to. Now, I think a certain somebody has a dress to put on, am I right?"

Éponine grinned at her. "I'll take a bath first, I think. Wash my hair."

"If you want to borrow my bathing suit for decency I can wash it for you, then leave you to have a proper wash."

"Sounds like a plan" Éponine replied, heading upstairs with Cosette on her heels.

* * *

Marius, meanwhile, had been awake for hours.

He was nervous. Like, proposal-level nervous, if not more. It wasn't so much he was scared Éponine would have second thoughts, since he knew she wouldn't, but more the fact that they knew not every member of the gang were behind bars. Her father, Clase-something and that disgusting Montparnasse were, but the others weren't, even though they'd not been sighted.

Like Éponine, he'd been pretty lonely waking up by himself. He'd already eaten and done his hair, although wasn't getting dressed until Enjolras came, who had his suit, and was sitting on her side their bed, a hand resting lightly on the slight dent in the mattress she always slept in.

He picked up her pillow, squeezing it to himself. It always smelled like her - Éponine never wore any perfumes, seeing them as another pointless expense, but the soap she used had a slight lavender tint to it, so she had that surrounding her. Burying his nose in it, he tried to get a grip and get something done.

True to his word, Enjolras showed up twenty minutes later, both suits over his arm. "Right then, Pontmercy. Alcohol and medical textbooks hidden, no chance of a drunk or a hypochondriac today, suits here and best of luck to you. Get dressed."

"Good morning to you too" Marius chuckled, heading into his bedroom, nerves somewhat appealed by seeing his friend.

* * *

"Azelma should be here soon."

"You've got her dress as well, haven't you?"

"I do, and mine. Who's invited?"

"Not many. You, your father, Francis, the boys - Enjolras, Joly and Grantaire, Azelma, Musichetta, she's Joly's girlfriend, my mother and we invited Marius' grandfather but I doubt he'll come. He doesn't approve of me."

"Wait, your-your mother is going to be there?"

"Yeah. Don't worry though, she's not like she was when you were around any more. She was being overshadowed by my father, but he's in prison now so she doesn't have to be. Trust me, she'll more likely apologise than yell at you."

"Hmm. I'll accept that apology of course, but I can't promise not to be a bit nervous."

"I don't blame you, we were all pretty scary back then. Even Gavroche was probably a terrifying baby."

Cosette smiled as she rinsed Éponine's hair out and tied it out of the water. "Have a wash, hair's done, I've left your undergarments and an old dress of mine to wear whilst we get your hair dried and ready."

"Be there in ten."

As soon as Cosette had gone Éponine took off the bathing suit, rinsed it out and put it next to the bath. She had her usual soap with her, knowing how much Marius liked the scent, and scrubbed herself raw, determined that not a single speck of dirt was going to be there when she'd finished.

After taking a couple of moments to relax and steady her nerves, she stepped out, wrapping herself in a towel, checking nobody was about, and swiftly dashing to her bedroom. True to her word Cosette had left out some undergarments and an old dress - although how it could be considered old when it was still in peak condition was a mystery to her - and slipped them on, heading through to Cosette's bedroom.

Her dress was hanging on the wardrobe, no cover over it, making her smile. Turning towards the bed, she saw two dresses in pale lilac, one shorter than the other. Cosette and Azelma's dresses. Quite simple around the bodice and fell loosely to the ankles around the skirt. Each of the girls would have a small bouquet of flowers, with Éponine holding one too, and Marius would likely be in a new suit rather than his usual.

Cosette gestured for her to sit down, which she did. The towel was placed around her shoulders and her hair unpinned, letting Cosette brush it through as it dried.

"So, your hair is naturally slightly wavy, but I think we should accentuate that" she said, picking up some rollers. "Keep these in for twenty minutes."

Éponine gave her a thumbs-up, not wanting to nod in case something went wrong. Cosette started to roll her hair up, pinning the plastic devices to Éponine's head, and waiting for it to dry.

Azelma turned up not long after. She'd had a wash and brushed her hair as instructed, wearing a cheeky little grin as Cosette opened the door. "Mornin' 'Sette. 'Ponine upstairs? She look'd right nervy last time I saw 'er, shakin' like ne'er before."

Cosette had to try hard to understand the girls accent, but got the general message, smiling. "Follow me" she said, turning around and heading upstairs with an excited Azelma in hot persuit.

"Mornin' 'Ponine!"

"Morning 'Zelma" Éponine replied with a grin as Azelma hugged her fiercely. It was only then did Cosette realise just how similar they were. Same brown, slightly wavy hair and eyes, both slightly too skinny, same eyes, both lightly tanned from their time outside, they just looked so alike.

"So, Ép, hair should be done now" Cosette said, walking over and unrolling it. True to her word her natural wave was accentuated but not too much. "Right then. I say keep it simple, either leave it down or perhaps take two pieces of the front and pin them back.

"How would the second look?"

"Like this" Cosette demonstrated, taking two equal sized pieces of hair and twirling them around before pinning them back, letting the ends fall loosely with the rest of it.

"This one."

Cosette nodded.

'"Well, you know what comes next."

"The dress."

* * *

Marius, meanwhile, was fully dressed with Enjolras. The two were eating lunch silently, thinking about the upcoming day. I wonder what she's doing right now, Marius thought to himself. Probably having her hair done. It's odd not having her around. I miss her. But then again, in ten hours time she'll be around for the rest of our lives, so I can hang on a little longer.

"So, what's the plan?" Marius asked Enjolras.

"Grantaire, Joly and Musichetta are going to meet us there. Well, we'll probably get there first but they'll be there."

Marius nodded, a bout of nerves coming over him once more.

* * *

Éponine, at this moment, was in her corset and an underskirt. It wasn't too cold, October 2nd, but slightly chilly, so she'd decided to go for another layer. Cosette helped her put it on carefully, fussing over every tiny detail until she was sure everything was completely perfect. Her and Azelma went to get dressed, leaving Éponine alone with her thoughts.

She walked over to the full-length mirror, hardly recognising herself. It wasn't often she could admire her entire look, as her and Marius only had a small hand-mirror. She was pleased at how she looked - well, she was more than pleased - and looked herself up and down. I look...pretty, she thought. I actually look pretty.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of her bridesmaids. "You both look stunning" she said with a grin, giving both girls a hug. "I'm so nervous, excited, but nervous."

"Hey, don't be. Nothing can go wrong, the gang don't know where you are and wouldn't recognise you anyway, there's no chance Marius will have second thoughts, you look beautiful. There's nothing to worry over."

Éponine nodded. Cosette helped her secure her veil, and they headed downstairs to where the carriage awaited them.

* * *

Marius and the boys (plus Musichetta) were at the church already, waiting. All the other guests were seated, and they were waiting for Éponine.

Marius was sat next to Enjolras at the front, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers, wringing his hands. "She'll definitely be here, won't she?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself, in a couple of minutes?"

Marius wasn't sure what he meant at first until he heard everybody standing up. Éponine was there. Everything was fine.

He knew he wasn't supposed to look until she was next to him, and stared straight ahead until he heard the rustle of fabric, turning to his left.

The sight he saw made his mouth drop open.

He'd never seen Éponine look so beautiful or so happy. She was practically glowing, grinning slightly shyly up at him. "You look absolutely stunning" Marius said to her, getting an even wider grin as the priest cleared his throat.

"If I may ask a couple of questions first?"

"Of course."

"Have you both come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Will you love and honour each other as husband and wife for the rest of your lives?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Then we shall proceed. Join hands, please."

Both turned so they were facing eachother, joining hands as asked, smiling at eachother. He readings had been completed, all that was left was the vows.

"Monsieur?"

"I, Marius Pontmercy, take you, Éponine Thénardier, to be my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life."

Éponine was fighting back the tears she knew were coming as the priest asked her to say her vows.

"I, Éponine Thénardier, take you, Marius Pontmercy, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life."

"The rings, please."

Joly stepped forwards with the two gold bands, presenting them on a cushion for the couple to take individually. Marius took hold of Éponine's left hand and placed the ring right on the tip of her finger as he spoke.

"Éponine Thénardier, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

He slipped the ring down to the base of her ring finger. She couldn't hold back any longer as a single happy tear slipped down her cheek, as she took the remaining ring and placed it at the top of his finger,

"Marius Pontmercy, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit."

The rings were securely on, and Marius had lost his battle with his own tears.

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Marius picked the veil up and out of her face, stroking her hair as he placed it. Both of them leaned in at the same time, lips meeting in the middle as they took their first kiss as a married couple. Clapping could be heard from the guests as they gently drew apart, noses and foreheads touching as they both grinned at eachother.

Éponine took Marius' arm as they walked back down the aisle. No words could even begin to describe the pure euphoria they felt, eyes not leaving their spouse and grins not leaving their faces.

Before the guests came out, Marius had time to give Éponine a much deeper and more passionate kiss than before. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck, his tangling in her own and his other hand at the base of her spine, drawing her impossibly closer.

It was only the sound of Cosette clearing her throat that drew them apart, the former smiling wickedly. "Don't worry, only one who saw. But come on, we've got some celebrating to do that doesn't involve you being joined at the mouth for the rest of the evening" she said, as the rest of the guests came out of the church and into the hall where the celebrations would take place.

The pair waited until everyone had gone through before sharing another kiss and a tight hug, clutching at each other tightly. "Éponine Pontmercy, you look absolutely, stunningly, gorgeously beautiful and I couldn't be happier knowing I now have you as my wife."

"I couldn't ask for a better day, event or husband, Marius. You look handsomely stunning and I love you to pieces. But lets not get too soppy just yet. That can wait until tonight" she said with a cheeky wink, taking his hand as they walked through to the hall.

**A/N: Hopefully that was aright! To be continued in their reception, which will be up today :)**


	10. Celebrations

**A/N: And here is the second update of today. Considerably shorter than the last, but deal with it, and enjoy!**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your OTP getting married.**

* * *

The couple grinned.

The second Marius and Éponine walked into the hall they were greeted with a round of rapturous applause, despite the small amount of people there. They politely thanked everybody for coming, both secretly itching for some time alone, but hiding it well.

Éponine detached herself from her husband - if she couldn't stop smiling at 'fiancée' she had no chance with 'husband' - and went to speak to her mother.

"I'm glad you came. Marius was worried you didn't get the invite as we didn't hear a reply."

Madame Thénardier smiled. "I'd never miss this. Look at you now. Well fed, all grown up."

She smiled at her mother, giving a small shrug. "Marius takes care of me."

"I'm surprised you let him. So independent."

She shrugged again. "I guess it's just nice to have someone to depend on that isn't yourself. If it weren't Marius I wouldn't let them. But it is. So I let him."

Her mother smiled. "I suppose I'll have to get used to being alone, now your fathers gone, armed robbery, he's been sentenced to fifteen years."

"And, um, how long is Montparnasse in prison for?"

"Oh my dear, I know how he hurt you. Emotionally and physically. If I could change that, I would. But he went down for armed robbery, attempted murder and tried to escape twice already. He's in there for a minimum of twenty five to thirty years."

"And Claquesous?"

"Twelve years, he co-operated."

"Sneaky bastard."

"My thoughts exactly."

"So, have you spoken with Cosette?"

Madame Thénardier shrugged. "Not yet, she probably still hates me."

Éponine shook her head. "She won't. I told her. She's forgiven me and 'Zelma, she'll forgive you to. She's a bit stereotypical rich girl sometimes but she's got a good heart. Talk to her."

Her mother nodded, giving Éponine a hug. "Keep in contact, you. I've already lost a son and a husband, I'm not losing my daughters."

"I won't. Now, I have to say I have a lot of people to talk to, so I'd best be off. Talk to Cosette."

"I will. See you around, Ép."

Éponine gave her a smile and headed back to join Marius, who was talking with Joly and Musichetta. "Everything alright?" he asked, giving her a quick kiss. "Fine" Éponine replied. "Except Enjolras is struggling to keep Grantaire away from the wine, so I think we should keep an eye there" she added with a smile. Marius squeezed her waist gently as she smiled at him, heading over to Cosette and Francis.

"I still can't believe you're married now" Cosette gushed. Éponine nodded. "It still seems surreal. I know we've been living together but it's all so official" she said sheepishly.

Francis left to make conversation with Enjolras, leaving the two girls alone.

"Excited for tonight?"

"Tonigh-oh. Oh. I didn't even think of that."

"Better get thinking. So you've never, you know, done it?"

"Not with Marius and not by choice, no."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. That was insensitive."

"Don't be ridiculous, the man that did it is in prison for twenty five years anyway."

"Good."

Éponine nodded. "Does it hurt?" Cosette asked hesitantly. Éponine's eyebrow shot up. "Why, you planning something?"

Cosette hit her lightly on the arm. "Ssh. Just curious."

"Well, my first wasn't exactly fun, so it always hurt for me, but only the first time for a bit."

"Okay. Lets move on."

"Good idea" Éponine said with a chuckle. "So, reckon there's a future for you and Francis?"

"Maybe. He hasn't even met my father yet."

"Ah, perhaps now is the best time?"

"Perhaps."

"Well, I should probably check on 'Zelma, so I'll see you later."

"Enjoy your evening. Or your night" Cosette said with a wink.

"Will you shush!" Éponine said with a grin, disappearing over to her sister.

After about an hour and a half, it was time for their dance. Éponine was terrified of falling over or spraining her ankle again, so took her shoes off, padding lightly over to Marius as the other couples joined them in the centre.

Marius' hands went to her hips, hers to his shoulders. The violinists began to play a slow tune, and instead of attempting something more complicated, Marius simply let her sway gently from side to side, not a single gap in between them.

"So then, Madame Pontmercy" Marius said, earning a content grin from Éponine. "Yes, my dearest husband?" she chuckled, resting her head on his chest. "Ready for tonight?"

Éponine groaned. "Oh God, not you too. I've already had Cosette ask me."

Marius chuckled. "Just saying."

Éponine smiled to herself. "If you want answer it would be yes. Now remember we are in public, mister, thoughts to yourself."

Marius smiled, moving his hands from her hips to her back as he hugged her slim frame tightly to him. "I still can't believe this has actually happened."

"Me neither. When you think about where we were a year ago, it seems so odd. Pleasantly odd, but odd all the same."

Marius simply smiled more, gently picking her head up to pull her into a deep kiss, forgetting the rest of the room and simply living in the moment.

After another four hours, everyone was completely exhausted. Marius made a quick speech thanking everybody for coming, and they departed, getting into the cosy carriage waiting.

Éponine decided to ignore the driver, who couldn't see them anyway, and planted herself firmly on Marius' lap. He rested his head in the crook of her neck, playing with her fingers. "You honestly do look truly gorgeous."

"You don't look too bad yourself."

"Always good to know."

Éponine kissed the top of his head, him kissing her shoulder in return as the carriage rolled through the night. His hand rested lightly on her knee, the bumps in the road giving him an excuse to give it a little pat.

Since the venue was almost half an hour away from their flat, Éponine shifted down so that her head was in his lap, lying across the seats. He leaned down to kiss her forehead, earning a smile, and stroked his fingers down her cheek, leaving them resting lightly there.

When they got home, they closed the door before standing in the doorway, simply taking in the sight of the other. At almost exactly the same time they stepped closer, lips meeting in a deep and passionate kiss. Éponine let out a little moan as his tongue slipped into her mouth, holding him closer to her. They broke apart after what couldn't have been any less than seven minutes minimum, and Marius kissed a small trail from her jaw up to her ear, in which he whispered seven words that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Shall we take this to the bedroom?"

**A/N: Getting saucy there, Pontmercy :P I won't be writing their wedding night as I don't read smut, let alone write it, so sorry if anybody wanted it. But hey. Hope you enjoyed :)**


	11. Morning After

**A/N: Morning/afternoon/evening to you all. Glad to see people liked the last updates :)**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your OTP waking up in the morning after being intimate for the first time (ie wedding night). Person B wakes up first and simply watches Person A, reflecting on the night before (no, I won't be going into details :P) and thinking how perfect Person A is.**

* * *

**You guys were slightly fluff-deprived in the past three (excluding when they're actually getting married and the end of the last chapter) so I've packed as much as I could into this. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Marius shifted, eyes fluttering open.

Éponine was still peacefully asleep, curled up on top of him. He rested a hand between her bare shoulder blades, tracing gentle circles.

The night before had been...brilliant. Amazing. Wonderful. Ecstatic. So many other adjectives that couldn't begin to describe it. They'd just had so much fun. And now, in the aftermath, neither had ever looked or felt happier.

Marius looked down at his wife. His wife. His wife, his wife, his wife. He couldn't say it enough. Éponine Pontmercy. His wife. It sounded just so perfect, more perfect than he could ever have imagined.

She shifted in her sleep slightly, burying herself further in his chest. He smiled, running a hand up and down along the bare skin of her back. In his eyes she'd never looked so beautiful, lying there on top of him, hair fanning out around her and spilling on to him. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, mouth turned upwards in a small smile. She shifted again, making him guess she was close to waking up.

God, she was gorgeous. So, so gorgeous. How hadn't he realised it before? Possibly the dirt and the rags keeping it from showing, keeping it covered. She'd always had hints of beauty. Though her personality had always been his favourite thing about her. That selfless, unique, fiery personality he'd only ever seen in Éponine. She didn't care about how women were stereotypically expected to be docile and quiet, expected to marry a man their parents deemed suitable, with no option except to grin and bear it. She most certainly didn't take orders from anyone, if they tried to boss her about then they'd sorely regret it.

He was glad of it. He wouldn't want her any other way. She was absolutely perfect, the way she was.

Tightening his arms around her, he kissed her head a few times, the her temple and cheek. The smile widened slightly, her eyes fluttering slightly.

Tilting her head up he kissed her on the lips, effectively waking her up as she sleepily kissed him back, eyes having closed once more.

"Morning."

"G'mornin'" Éponine slurred, still not properly awake. "D'we have to get up?"

"Nope. I have plans to stay here most of today."

"Good" she replied, pulling the duvet further up and over them as she snuggled herself back in to her husband. Her husband. Her husband, her husband, her husband. It sounded just so perfect, more perfect than she could ever have imagined.

Éponine wasn't one for clichés, but it honestly did feel like a part of her had been missing before. And Marius had filled that. He had been the missing part. But he was missing no longer. He was hers. Her husband. Marius Pontmercy.

Or, as they would now be known, Marius and Éponine Pontmercy. Monsieur and Madame. She was no longer Mademoiselle Thénardier. No, she wasn't a Thénardier any more, and she never would be again. She was a Pontmercy, and nothing ever could or would change that.

She shifted upwards, so that her head was sideways against his shoulder. His arms wrapped themselves around her once more, drawing her even closer to him than before. They wanted nothing more than to just lie there forever, as close as two people could possibly be.

"'Ponine."

"Mm?"

"If we eat now we can have the entire afternoon just lying here."

"Lets eat then."

Éponine rolled herself off of him, pausing on her side of the mattress first. She sat up, keeping the duvet for decency as she swiftly pulled on a dressing gown. Marius did the same, swinging out of bed and walking over to where she stood.

His arms wrapped around her waist, hands against her stomach as she relaxed against him. "Last night was amazing" she said, sighing contentedly. "Wasn't it just" Marius agreed, burying his nose in her hair. She smiled as she leaned in further to his embrace, yawning again.

"Come on you."

Éponine shrieked happily as he scooped her up, carrying her bridal-style through to their kitchen where he sat her on the counter, kissing her again deeply. Éponine smiled, unable to remember a time she'd felt so content, so loved. So wanted.

Marius pulled away with a smile, walking over to the cupboard to prepare some breakfast. Éponine watched, thinking about the night before and blushing heavily. She'd, you know, done it before, but not by choice. Those experiences had been nothing but pain and misery. With Marius though...well, it had been the complete opposite. Enjoyable. Incredible. Euphoric. She couldn't describe it.

Marius turned around and saw her, guessing her thoughts and giving her a cheeky wink. Éponine blushed even more as he came towards her with a tray of sandwiches, kissing her again.

They both ate fairly swiftly, Éponine still as close to him as possible. She was sat next to him, their sides pressed as closely together as they could be. Her arm was linked through his, one of her feet tucked between his, and her head on his shoulder. He was using his foot to gently stroke up her calf, causing a few giggles from her every so often.

The identical second they'd both finished eating, Marius pulled her down on top of him again, kissing her gently. She rested her forehead against his, both smiling gently.

"I still can't believe we're actually married now."

"Neither can I. Although it does have certain...perks, shall we say?"

"Éponine Pontmercy, you cheeky little minx."

Éponine smiled, kissing him again. "That's me alright" she said, kissing the end of his nose and then a trail from his ear down to his lips.

"God Éponine, you have no clue what you do to me."

"I have some idea" Éponine said, smiling wickedly and leaning down to kiss him again.


	12. Relaxing

**A/N: Hello you wonderful people. Another pointless fluff chapter. Enjoy :3**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine Person A has had a rough day at work, and Person B makes sure they get extra love and attention when they return home.**

* * *

Marius flinched as his boss yelled at him again.

"You should have CHECKED, you absolute FOOL!"

"I thought I did, but-"

"Don't you make excuses to ME! That's four weeks of work GONE! IDIOT!"

Marius stared at the floor meekly. He'd made tiny errors before, but nothing on this scale. His boss had been yelling for nearly an hour, giving him a headache he didn't dare to complain of.

"Go on, get home. I expect better from you in future, Pontmercy."

Marius gave a quick nod. He picked up his briefcase, focussing all his thoughts on the face he would be seeing Éponine in ten minutes rather than the conversation that had just passed.

Éponine. She kept him going. It wasn't so much that he hated his job (although he didn't exactly enjoy it) but the fact that it was just so tedious. The thought of her kept him working, knowing the faster he finished, the faster he could see her. He even had a sketch of her on his desk, framed and kept where he could always see it. It wasn't unknown for him to press a kiss to his fingers and run it over the picture at least twice a day.

He stopped off at the bakers on the way home, picking up a small cake for them to share later. His step didn't hold he usual spring it did when he was on his way. No, the shouting had gotten rid of that.

It wasn't his fault he'd translated a text into Spanish instead of English. That's what his co-worker had told him. Four weeks of work though...his boss had every right to be angry. It didn't make things better for Marius though.

Paying the baker, he trekked through the streets until he reached their flat. Knocking sharply, he soon heard the patter of feet as Éponine appeared. She let him in, closing the door behind him and throwing herself into his very welcoming embrace.

"Good day?" Éponine asked, resting her head on his chest. He held her tightly, shaking his head. "No. Translated into the wrong language. Boss wasn't happy."

"He's never satisfied. Someone should sack him."

Marius had to smile at her defensive attitude. "He's above me and I have to listen. Me getting a bit upset won't do anything" he said, still clutching her tightly.

Eventually releasing her, he tilted her head up and kissed her. Éponine had one palm resting on his chest, the other hand reaching up to tease the hairs on his neck, as he liked. She was already determined to give him a properly enjoyable and relaxing evening, in the aftermath of his work.

Despite her planning, she soon found herself lost in the moment. It took a few minutes for them to realise Marius was still in his suit.

She broke away from him, keeping their noses gently touching. "I suggest nightclothes, eat, bath and bed, mister."

"Couldn't agree more, Madame" Marius replied, taking hold of her waist and spinning her around. She couldn't help but laugh as they joined hands and went to get changed.

Midway through Éponine couldn't help surprising him by resting her head on the skin of his back, arms finding his waist. She knew what he was like, as she was the same, pretending they didn't care when really they were hurt. And his boss had clearly shaken him up - knowing Marius he was scared of getting fired, as they'd have no source of money then.

He turned and kissed her again, both smiling against the others lips. Éponine broke away from him as she finished dressing. He did the same, and they headed back into the kitchen.

It wasn't long before Marius had cooked up a nice meal, and they sat on the sofa instead. Éponine had lit a couple of candles, giving the room a peaceful glow as they dug in.

After they'd finished eating Éponine heated up enough water for a bath. "Go on, relax, you" she said to Marius, handing him a towel as he walked into the bathroom.

"Join me. Nothing steamy, just both of us relaxing. Please, 'Ponine."

Éponine couldn't help but smile. "Fine, but this is your evening to relax."

"You don't need to be so protective, it was just a bit of shouting."

"Whenever I got shouted at a bit it damaged my confidence. So I know it'll have done something to yours. I never had anyone to do anything nice for me. So let me do something nice for you."

Marius couldn't help but smile at her concern. "Come here, you" he said, holding his arms out. Éponine happily obliged, stepping forwards as she hugged him back. They seemed to do a lot of hugging, not that either of them were complaining.

Before too long they were both in the tub, Éponine sat behind him, giving his shoulders a massage. Marius couldn't help enjoying himself, only then realising just how tense his job really made him.

"Éponine?"

"Yes?"

"Can we do this more often?"

"Of course, if you want. It's just as relaxing for me, so I have no objections."

"Good. Now your turn to sit in front of me."

"Huh?"

"You need a little pampering too."

Éponine smiled, standing up and stepping over him, sitting down. "I knew baths were nice, but joint baths are even better" she said with a smile, leaning back against his chest as his arms wrapped themselves around her stomach.

They sat there like that peacefully for almost an hour. Marius kissed Éponine's head, who by this point had drifted off, effectively waking her up.

"How did I fall asleep in the bath?"

"Apparently quite easily, but the water's gone cold, so we should probably get out. I don't want you getting ill."

"It's me who should be worrying, not you."

He kissed her head again. "I'll worry if I want. Come on."

Within an hour they were both back in their nightclothes. Éponine was face-down on top of Marius, who was stroking her back tenderly. Marius was trying (and failing) to remember a time he'd felt so content, so relaxed. Éponine was doing the same, and neither could come up with anything.

"Thank you."

Éponine shuffled slightly. "What for?"

"For making this day so much better. Not by doing anything in particular, but just for being you."

"Any time. As I said, I never had anybody glad to see me when I got back from wherever I'd been. So I'm glad you do."

Marius smiled. "I'll always be glad to see you too, wherever you've been. As long as you come back to me, I'll always be happy to see you."

"Never knew you were so sentimental."

He chuckled. "Shush, you. Enjoy it."

"Don't worry, I am. I really, really am."


	13. Sheets

**A/N: I love the site (I was having a prompt meltdown, searched everywhere and could not find anything. Sixty two pages into the "fluffy" tag and I HAVE FOUND SOMETHING. So yeah. In case you're wondering why it took so long it's because I literally have to have an idea, like a sentence I'm going to use the minute I look at the prompt to be able to write it, instead of forcing it. I don't really get it either). But yeah. Onwards!**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine Person A of your OTP trying to fix the sheets after a long night, but being unable to get the last corner on, so they just sit there frustrated until Person B comes and does it for them.**

* * *

As established, Éponine was a cleaner.

She loved being able to sit back and enjoy the spotless shine of the room she'd been in. Whilst she wasn't too keen on the fact that a huge female stereotype just happened to be one of her favourite hobbies, she couldn't help it. The satisfaction of knowing that Marius would have a fresh apartment to come home to every day made it even better.

She'd dust every surface, scrub every stain, re-arrange the pillows and the cushions, polish the windows...some would call it obsessive, but she disagreed. She didn't feel like she had to do it. It was just something she liked doing.

Except there was always one part she couldn't do, which was re-making their bed.

The sheets sometimes got a little tangled with their...shall we say, nightly activities, and fixing them again was a nightmare. She'd never figured out how to do it, once she thought she'd gotten the edge over the corner of the mattress, the opposite corner would come off again. This would be repeated who knows how many times until she flung them to the floor in an irritated mess, muttering to herself that it wasn't worth it.

But she was a perfectionist when it came to their house. It was their private place to relax, to laugh, to have fun, do whatever they wanted. And she wanted it to be perfect.

So each time she failed with the sheets, she'd just spread them out and cover them with the duvet, trying to tell herself they were done. It never worked, of course, but she persisted nevertheless.

She was wrestling with the blasted sheets as she heard Marius come through the door. He could hear her muttering obscenities and heard something being thrown to the floor, frowning and walking through to the bedroom.

He had to bite his tongue not to laugh.

Éponine was sitting on their bed, a crumpled sheet next to her.

That wasn't the funny part.

The funny part for him was her expression. She looked at it like she wanted to stab the sheet and lock up it's family, giving it such a death glare he was sure her father would have been afraid. She hadn't even noticed him, staring at the offending object as if looking at it would make it miraculously sort itself out.

He cleared his throat, letting her know she was there. Éponine's scorning expression swiftly disappeared as she smiled, getting up and throwing herself at him as usual, clinging to him tightly. Despite being married for nearly four months [time passes quickly in this, apparently] and having been together for over a year, she still greeted him with the same enthusiasm and love.

He hugged her back tightly. "Something happened with the sheets?"

"Won't go right, hate them" she mumbled into his shirt, earning a chuckle and a slightly tighter hug. "I'll do them."

Éponine nodded, stepping out of his embrace and scowling at the sheets again, before disappearing to make them both some hot chocolate. Marius had fixed the sheets within minutes, heading into the kitchen and producing a packet of biscuits from his bag.

"Been shopping?"

"Briefly. Biscuits, milk and some bread, we were running out."

Éponine nodded, leaning up to kiss him. "I may be the cleaner but you're certainly more observational."

"Don't want you going hungry."

"I went without food for three to four days at a time, a little less bread would hardly be going hungry."

"Shush."

Éponine grinned up at him, giving him another kiss before following through to their sitting room. "So" she began sitting next to him on their sofa and poking a foot in between his. "Things any better at work?"

"Not really, the failed translation's in the past, but the boss holds a grudge."

Éponine sighed sympathetically. "I've never worked in the environment you do but I'm pretty sure that's not right."

Marius shrugged, wrapping an arm around her. "Perhaps not, but there isn't a lot I can do about it. He's in charge."

"He shouldn't be, though, with an attitude like that."

"If only it were that simple. If the world listened to you, my beautiful wife, it would be a much better place."

Éponine smiled. She shuffled closer to him, leaning in to his embrace as he kissed her temple. "If the world listened to almost anybody with a sense of what's right and wrong it would be a better place."

"Very true" Marius replied, pulling her in gently for another kiss. Éponine soon broke away, confusing Marius slightly, but he soon realised why as she spoke. "Right. Now tell me how to do this sodding sheet, or you'll come home to find I've ripped it apart."

He followed her through to the bedroom, unable to resist another quick kiss. "Right, so the best way would be to place a heavy object, one of my textbooks perhaps, on the corner, keeping it there."

"Tried that. Didn't work."

"Oh. Um, well, perhaps using some thread to keep it in place?"

"No thread, and how would you do that in the first place?"

"Not sure. Thought it was worth a try."

"Éponine smiled. "Well, it could work somehow. But there's got to be another way."

Marius rolled his eyes, smiling still. "Just leave them."

"You know I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"Can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

"You've said it too much now, it's gone weird."

"It's gone weird. How scientifically accurate."

"Ssh, you" Marius said, sweeping her up into another kiss and tossing the sheet to one side.

Well, it was just going to get ruined again anyway.


	14. Warmth

**A/N: Prompts where Éponine is pregnant and/or with their child/ren greatly appreciated, the site has started posting again but it's not entirely reliable all the time. So feel free to submit! Slightly cheesy end line but couldn't think of anything else. Don't judge XD**

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**Prompt: Imagine it's the coldest day of winter and the heating goes out/there is no heating in the building your OTP is in, so they must snuggle in by the fire in a fluffy blanket to keep warm.**

* * *

Éponine shivered again.

The flat was usually cold in winter, as there was no heating except a fire, but this time beat them all. It was surprising the water she'd saved in their kettle hadn't frozen over, it must have been cold enough. She was hoping that Marius, who was still at work, was warm enough, comfortable. She was used to such bitter cold, but he wasn't.

She tried lighting the fire again, striking the coal and trying her best to get a spark. But nothing. She'd never lit one before, having never had a fireplace before living with Marius, and hadn't the faintest clue how to start one. So she simply sat there by the fireplace, continuing to strike things together in hope of starting a flame, ignoring the fact that there were several things she could do to keep warm.

Marius, meanwhile, was slightly warmer than her but still pretty cold. The building he worked in had central heating, although it wasn't always reliable, usually only lasting roughly ten minutes at a time. Like usual, he kissed his fingertips and ran them lightly over the picture of Éponine on his desk, staring at her portrait for a minute before returning to his work.

He heard his boss telling the workers they could leave, and packed up his things, picking up her picture to kiss it gently and placing it back on his desk, picking up his case and putting his coat on. His boss narrowed his eyes slightly as he went past, causing Marius to roll his eyes once he was out of sight.

The blast of the winter wind hit him harder than a bullet train, trudging through the icy air. He hoped Éponine was okay - she was smart, but she didn't know everything. Had she managed to light a fire alright? Did she even know how to? She'd get ill if she was any colder than him.

The thought made him walk that bit faster, until he neared the street of the building. His step increased until he was practically bounding up the stairs, hoping she'd managed to find a way to keep warm.

She heard the front door unlock. Dropping the piece of coal and wood with a loud clatter, she leaped up and ran towards the advancing figure of her husband, quite literally throwing herself at him and wrapping her legs around his waist, hoping for a heat source as well as being glad to see him.

"Éponine, you're freezing!"

"Couldn't figure out how to light the fire" she mumbled, face buried in his coat. Marius held her closer, an arm under her thighs to support her, almost as if holding a small child. "You could get ill" he told her gently.

"Don't start, you sound like Joly."

"I don't care. I don't want you getting sick."

Éponine couldn't help smiling at his concern. "I'll be fine. Now show me how to light this bloody thing, I feel like an ice cube."

Marius nodded, still carrying her, despite her telling him she could walk. He stopped off in their bedroom to kiss her and hand her a pair of his trousers to wear. She happily put them on under her dress, glad for an extra heat source and wondering why she hadn't just done that in the first place.

Marius got changed into some more comfortable clothes and kissed her again, picking up the duvet and heading to the lounge. Éponine helped him push the sofa and both armchairs together next to the fire, creating one big sofa-bed-type-thing by the fireplace. Marius lit it, her watching for later dates.

Before too long Marius had served up some hot chicken and toast (an odd meal, but there you go) on a tray, and they were both tucked up on their makeshift sofa-bed-type-thing, cuddling together and eating in the warmth. Marius was still worried about Éponine, as her body still felt a little cold to him. So he shuffled closer to her, holding her tightly, one arm stroking hers in an attempt to warm her up.

Éponine smiled, burying herself closer in to him. It was nice, the two of them snuggled together in front of a fire. Perhaps one day they'd do the same, but with their child in between them. A girl, perhaps, with the curl of her hair, the colour of his. His eyes, her build. A perfect mix of the two of them. And one day, that would happen. Not yet, perhaps, but one day.

"Centime for your thoughts."

She smiled, looking up at him. "Thinking about the future."

"Children?"

"You know me too well."

"We can have them, you know. Whenever you want."

"I wish you wouldn't say that, it's we. Whenever we want."

"I'm not the one that has to-" she stopped him with a finger on his lips, one eyebrow sized. "You're not the one who has to carry them around and deal with sickness and back pains, and you don't have to give birth to them, and you don't have to lose the ability to do anything near the end and you don't have to look like you've swallowed a small elephant, I know. But just because of that it does not mean you don't get a say in anything. They'll be your children too. And we're only having them when you want, not just me."

Marius couldn't help but smile at her, kissing her forehead gently. "Okay, okay. Because I'd love a child, at any point. I can't promise I'd make the best father, but I know for a fact you'd make a wonderful mother."

"You'd make a wonderful father, don't put yourself down like that."

"You have so much faith in me."

"Because you have so much in me" Éponine replied quietly. Marius pulled her gently on to his lap, hands resting lightly on her stomach. "Just think, one day I won't be able to get my arms around here."

"Lovely. I'll look forward to the time where my own husband can't hug me properly."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Good."

She smiled, closing her eyes and leaning back against his chest. Marius kissed the top of her head as she drifted off, warm and content in the arms of her husband and dreaming of the additions they might one day have.


	15. Sickness

**A/N: Well, this turned in to two parts so...yeah. Enjoy!**

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**Prompt(s): (thank you Guest/:BEASBeth: Éponine is sick (with flu-like symptoms ;) ), which she 'caught' from Marius, after he got sick from the lack of heat in their apartment.**

* * *

"Looks like flu."

Éponine sighed, sinking back against her pillow. A couple of coughs escaped her as Joly packed up his equipment. "My back aches."

"It will. It's normal for flu victims."

"Ugh."

Joly smiled sympathetically, heading out to tell Marius.

"What is it?" Marius asked, rising from the table with a worried expression. "Flu or a bad cold. Nothing serious though."

"Can I see her?"

"Of course, you're the one who gave it to her so you shouldn't be affected again."

Marius didn't need to be told twice. He leaped up from his seat, having had half an hour filled with nothing but worry. He'd seen Éponine ill before, but she'd been coughing and in pain, vomiting too. She'd never been this bad, and he'd never been so glad to have a friend in medicine.

He walked in to their bedroom, heart immediately crumbling at the sight of his wife.

She was pale, much paler than normal, as if all the colour had left her. Even her lips were grey. She was shivering slightly, despite the blankets, and could hardly find the strength to sit up properly.

He immediately rushed to her side, sitting on top of the covers next to her, kissing her forehead which was lightly coated in sweat.

"Hey."

She smiled up at him weakly. "I feel-" she coughed, the force jerking her thin frame "-absolutely crap" she finished, sinking back in to her pillow. Marius immediately wrapped his arms around her. "You're still so cold" he said, to which she nodded slightly. "I can't get warm" she mumbled.

Marius let go of her briefly to slip under the duvet with her, after re-folding the blankets and placing them gently over her ill body, hoping for heat. Shuffling up, he pulled her gently in to another hug, holding her as more coughing overcame her, stroking her slightly damp hair. "You heard Joly, you'll be fine in a couple of days, this is as bad as it gets" he whispered, to which she nodded again.

Joly came back in with a tablet in his hand and a glass of water in the other. "Take this, it'll reduce your fever and let you warm up a bit."

"Mmdontwanttodontmakeme."

"Huh?"

"Don't want to, don't make me."

Marius kissed her head again. "Do you want to feel like this for longer?"

"No."

"Then you need to take this, one swallow and it's gone."

Éponine sighed. Marius supported her as she sat up, an arm under hers to keep her sitting. She swallowed the tablet obediently before closing her eyes again, giving a little moan as her back ached before settling back into Marius' embrace.

"She'll feel better by this evening. I'd like to stay overnight if that's okay, to keep an eye on her."

"Of course. Sofa's comfortable."

"Thank you."

Joly left, leaving the couple alone once more.

"'Ponine?"

"Mm."

"Do you think you can eat something? Some soup, maybe?"

"I can try" she mumbled. Marius nodded and gently got up, easing her head down on to her pillow, and walking through to the kitchen.

"Joly, want anything?"

"Got some sandwiches."

"Okay."

Before too long, Marius was back with a tray of hot chicken soup, a fresh glass of water and a flower in a vase. He placed it on the bed and helped her sit up again, arranging her pillows for her.

"I'm fine to do this myself, don't fuss so much."

"Éponine, you can take care of yourself, I know, but not now. Let me do it."

"Fine. I don't really get a choice either way."

"No, you don't" Marius replied, placing the tray on her lap and shuffling over to her. An arm encircled her waist as he helped her eat, ignoring her protests as he lifted the spoon for her.

It took twenty minutes for her to finish, and when she did she simply buried herself in him again, falling asleep within minutes.

True to Joly's word, the fever broke overnight, and she woke the next morning feeling considerably better, if a bit sick. She slipped out of Marius' arms and dashed to the toilet, throwing up whatever was in her stomach from the night before, leaning against the wall weakly. She heard footsteps approaching and saw Joly peeking around the door.

"Éponine? Are you alright?"

She sighed. "Do I look bloody alright?"

"Thought it best to ask."

Éponine rolled her eyes before throwing up again. Marius had awoken by this point and instantly ran over to her, wrapping an arm around her as usual and holding her hair back.

"I think I need to give you another examination."

"If you must."

"Without Marius."

"If you must."

"Good."

After they were sure Éponine was finished, Marius carried her back to their bedroom, laying her gently on the bed and fluffing her pillows. He kissed her forehead tenderly, brushing her hair out of her face, and disappeared into the kitchen, giving her a reassuring smile before he did.

He could hear the low buzz of Joly's voice as he bustled around the kitchen, making some toast (minus the butter, the smell made her feel sick when she was ill).

Meanwhile, Joly went and sat by Éponine, having done a couple of examinations and notes.

"I need to ask a couple of personal questions, if that's okay."

"Mm?"

"How long have you been throwing up?"

"About two weeks."

"And is it always in the mornings?"

"Yes."

"When did you last have your cycle?"

"About two months ago, but it's always been irregular, so I thought nothing of it."

"Okay. And, sorry to have to ask, but have your breasts been at all tender, or painful?"

"It's okay, I know you have to. And yes, a bit sore."

"Then I think it's fairly obvious what it is."

"Which is?"

"No idea?"

"Nope."

"Éponine, you're pregnant."

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**A/N: Double update today! Keep checking here!**


	16. Telling Marius

**A/N: Aaaaand, part two. This is really not my finest work but I tried XD Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Prompt: Éponine telling Marius she's pregnant.**

* * *

"Wh-what?"

"The signs are obvious, the examination I did backs that up, you're pregnant."

"But...how?"

"I think we both know how" Joly replied dryly.

"Sorry. No. Good. That's good. It's just...it's a lot to take in. What about Marius? What of he isn't pleased? Doesn't want it? What if he leaves? What do I do then?"

"Marius will be glad, he will be pleased, he will want it and he most definitely will not leave."

"Can you give me a minute?"

"Sure."

Éponine leaned back against her pillows. A hand flew to her stomach, her looking down at her currently flat abdomen. Joly had predicted she was about a month along. In four months, she'd be showing. In eight, she'd be giving birth. In nine, she'd have a child, a child her and Marius had created. Their son or daughter.

Because she was pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant pregnant pregnant pregnant pregnant. The word rang out throughout her head, seemingly getting louder the harder she thought.

Pregnant.

She heard a knock on the bedroom door. "Who is it?"

"Me, Marius."

"Come in."

Marius opened the door quietly, slipping in to the room. He smiled at her, and she returned it, patting the mattress next to her. He sat down, taking one of her hands.

"Joly said you had something to tell me."

Éponine looked at the floor. _No_, she told herself. _He won't mind. He won't be angry. Tell him._

"I-"

She stopped, looking down again. Marius squeezed her hand tightly, placing three fingers under her chin, lifting her head.

"'Ponine?"

"I-I-I'm pregnant."

Marius stared at her in shock, his mouth falling open as his eyes darted down to her stomach, and back up to her face. Silence hung in the air as he took it in.

Éponine bit her lip. He wasn't pleased, he wasn't happy. He didn't want this.

"Say something. Anything."

"I-I don't know what to say."

"I knew you wouldn't be pleased" she said, tears gathering as she ripped her hands away and ran out of the room, not hearing Marius' cry of "Éponine, wait!" as she ran out of their flat.

Not pausing for a second, she dragged a hand over her eyes to get rid of the tears that were now openly spilling out as she ran for the bench by the river. She liked to think of it as her and Marius' bench, their place to sit and talk in the embrace of the other.

But it was her place now, she was alone. And if Marius' lack of speech and clear lack of wanting (to her, anyway) was anything to go by, she'd be alone for a very long time.

Whilst this was going on, Marius was still sat on the bed. He was pleased. God, he was ecstatic. They were having a child. Éponine was pregnant. But she'd run off. And it was his fault.

Joly came in. "What's happened?"

"Éponine told me, I didn't say anything and I think she thinks I don't want it."

"Well go after her then, you fool!"

Marius did exactly that, snapping out of his momentary trance and breaking in to a run as soon as he was on the streets. "Éponine!" he called, heading immediately for the marketplace and searching it thoroughly, asking everyone he passed if she'd been sighted.

Almost twenty minutes later, he'd searched high and low. Until he realised where she was.

The bench.

Breaking in to a run, he sprinted over to the familiar location, muttering every prayer he could think of under his breath and hoping with all that he was that she'd be there.

Words couldn't describe the relief he felt when he saw a familiar brown-haired head. "Éponine!" he called again, the head turning to look at him. She got up, seeing who it was.

Marius ran over to her and clutched at her in a hug, her returning it, slightly bewildered. "You're here, you're safe, you're okay" he muttered in to her hair, clasping her tighter than ever. Éponine wrapped her arms around him limply in return.

"You had me worried" he said in a low voice, letting her go and holding her shoulders at arms length. Éponine said nothing, looking at the floor.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? I'm pregnant and you don't want me to be! You weren't pleased, I could see it on your face! You didn't smile! You didn't look happy! You don't want this child and I don't know what to do!" she said, tears streaming out of her eyes.

Marius stared at her in shock, sitting on the bench and sitting her next to him, clasping her hands.

"Éponine, of course I'm pleased. I'm over the moon! I want this child as much as you do, please, please, don't ever think otherwise" he said.

She looked up at him. "But-but-you didn't say anything."

"It's just a shock, that's all. Don't ever doubt how happy I am, truly."

Éponine swallowed. "So you're not going to leave me?" she asked in a small voice, which surprised him most. She thought that? She actually thought he would leave her?

"Never. Never, I'd never leave you. You're my wife, and I adore you with every fibre of my being, and I promise you now I will love this child just as much as I love you."

She nodded. "So."

"So."

"We're having a child."

Marius smiled at her. "We are" he replied, leaning forwards and pulling her into a much needed hug, tears of happiness now spilling from two pairs of eyes. The couple clutched at each other tightly, as if worried the other was going to disappear if they let go for even a second.

They were having a child. They were going to be parents. Eight months time, they'd be holding their baby, their daughter or son. The daughter or son they'd created together.

Éponine tilted her head up to draw him in to a kiss, gentle and sweet. He was happy. They were both happy. He wasn't going anywhere, and she wasn't either. Marius' hands gently stroked up and down her back, cementing the reassurance she so badly needed.

Both of them broke away at the same time. Marius stroked her cheek gently, both of them breaking out in to a grin at the same time. Éponine let out a slightly nervous giggle, something she was decidedly _not_ prone to, but she didn't care. She was pregnant, and she could do what she bloody well wanted in her mind.

They both stood up, Marius hugging her again, before picking her up and spinning her around, earning a happy laugh as he set her down, kissing her again.

She slipped her arm through his, head leaning on his shoulder. Everything was alright. They were together. They were happy.

And they were going to start a family.


	17. Bump

**A/N: I'm seriously exhausted so this could be crap. But I'll let you guys decide that. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your OTP lying in bed together, person B is a couple moths pregnant and is lightly showing and Person A is gently stroking their stomach while planting kisses on Person B's lips and cheeks, talking about their future.**

* * *

Éponine yawned.

She was waiting for Marius to get home, him having worked a double shift so they could start saving to move in to a proper house. She found it strange, the fact that what she used to spend her nights dreaming about was actually happening. She was married to Marius, pregnant with their child, and soon to move in to a proper house instead of a flat. Not that she didn't love their home, she adored it, but when the baby came it would be nice to have more space.

She was about two and a half months in to her pregnancy now, and a tiny bump had appeared. She'd already stopped wearing her corset (she'd never liked them anyway), glad for an excuse, and spent half of her time peering down at her slightly larger stomach, thinking about the fact she had a tiny person growing inside of her.

The door soon opened and she bounded up to her husband in her usual style. Marius could help chuckling as he caught her - it was clear she wasn't going to let her current condition slow her down. "Somebody's happy to see me" he teased, kissing her temple.

"Two people soon."

"Two people indeed. I hope you won't be throwing yourself at me holding a baby."

"I think even I know when to stop, thank you very much."

"I'm sure you do" Marius replied, setting her down. She followed him through to the kitchen, yawning again.

"You alright?"

"Up early."

"Sickness again?"

"Mm. Thought it would've stopped by now, but apparently not. Could take up to two more months apparently."

Marius kissed her forehead. "You should wake me more often, I don't know what I can do but I can do something."

"Just knowing I can fall asleep next to you again afterwards is enough. It's not that bad."

"Being woken up every morning by your stomach attempting to throw itself up isn't exactly the best way to wake up though."

She sighed. "Perhaps, but it won't last the whole time."

"You don't have to always be so tough."

"Wouldn't be me otherwise."

"True."

Like they'd done earlier on, Éponine helped Marius push the sofa and armchairs together, dragging their duvet in from the next room. He lay down on it, gently pulling her down on top of him, a hand resting lightly on her bump.

"You can't go moving furniture for much longer."

"God, I'll be so useless in a few months."

He kissed the top of her head. "You're carrying our child, that's not useless. That's useful, actually."

She smiled, leaning back against him and placing a hand on top of his as he tenderly caressed the small bump. "It's weird to think there's a whole new person growing inside me."

"It is indeed."

"I reckon it'll be a girl."

"You do? I think it'll be a boy myself."

"Hmm. Well, I guess we'll see in seven months time."

Marius smiled, kissing her temple and cheek. "Indeed."

"I've been a bit worried, to be honest."

He frowned, squeezing her hand gently. "About what?"

"Whether I'll make a good mother or not. I don't have the faintest clue how to raise a child, Gavroche was taking care of himself alright by the time he was three, and even then I hardly did anything. And I think we can both agree I've hardly had a model upbringing. What if he or she doesn't like me? I haven't even changed a napkin before, let alone fed or bathed one. Mama did all that for 'Zelma and Gavroche."

Marius leaned around her head to kiss her gently. "Éponine Pontmercy, you are going to make the best mother on the planet, I guarantee. The fact you had such a rough upbringing means you'll take extra care of the child, and you'll learn all of this in time. I haven't even been around a baby before, yet I have absolute confidence that we're both ready for having one. It's instinct. We can get books on the topic, your mother can probably offer advice. Honestly, 'Ponine, things will be fine. Promise."

Éponine smiled, shifting slightly as she leaned back in to him. "Thanks. I needed that" she said, as he kissed her cheek again, hand still stroking the slight lump that had appeared.

"Excuse me? Did I just hear Éponine herself confess she needed reassurance?"

"Shut up, I'm pregnant."

"That's your number one excuse now, isn't it?"

"Mmhmm."

He smiled, kissing her head again. She turned over onto her stomach and buried herself in to his chest, clearly exhausted. Marius kissed her hairline, arms wrapping around her back. "Go to sleep, you're tired. And wake me when you feel sick, okay?"

"If you want to witness me throwing up my insides in to our toilet then okay."

"Just wake me."

He felt her nod as her eyelids closed, gently tracing circles between her shoulder blades with the tips of his fingers, whispering a goodnight before closing his own eyes, dreaming of a baby girl with his eyes and her hair, a boy with her eyes and his hair, and, of course, Éponine, and the brilliant mother he knew she'd make.


	18. Cosette

**A/N: HELP. I've hit the writers block. Is it just me or does it always seem to happen around chapter sixteen? Had the same with Imagine and An Exchange of Letters too...O.o**

**Also I am very sleep deprived. So again this could be terrible. But ssh.**

* * *

**Prompt (thank you I Am Your Singer 2006): Éponine running in to Cosette who finds out she's pregnant.**

* * *

"See you later, beautiful."

"You won't be saying that when I'm bigger than the flat."

"Yes I will" Marius replied, kissing her deeply and gently running a hand over her three and a half month old bump. Éponine couldn't help smiling as she gently pulled away, kissing his cheek as he disappeared to work.

She lifted half of her blouse, peering down at her bump for what had to be the twelfth time that morning. Morning sickness still hadn't left her, but true to her word, she woke Marius each time, and simply having him there helped, made it more bearable.

She headed over to the cupboards, hoping for some cake to get the unpleasant sickness aftertaste out of her mouth. Finding nothing she sighed, heading back over to their "jar collection".

It'd been Marius' idea. He'd bought five different coloured jars, labelling each one to store their money in. So far they had "housekeeping and necessities", "food", "house savings", "other", and the newest, "baby savings". That one made her smile the most. They didn't have much, but whenever Marius' pay came in they divided it so they had a reasonable amount for each section, and having enough to keep themselves comfortable. Besides, money wasn't everything, not any more.

She headed over to the "food" jar, taking out about eight francs and depositing them in to the purse they share, before taking one last look at her bump and heading out the door.

It was a pleasant day, people out and about, the market stalls in full swing. She purchased a small cake, a load of bread and some margarine, telling herself to leave at least three francs over. She usually gave a franc to a street child she saw, her realisation of how important saving was being overridden by how well she knew the desperation of the streets, and how much difference a bit of money from a kind passer-by could make.

She decided to make the most of the air and headed down to the river. It was peaceful there, save for the odd couple and a young child, but that was all. Éponine couldn't help thinking how in six months time her and Marius would be that couple, strolling by the river with their baby boy or girl.

"Éppy!"

Éponine smiled as she turned around, recognising the voice.

"Hey 'Sette" she said with a smile, greeting the girl with a hug. Cosette drew back swiftly, staring down at Éponine's visibly showing stomach.

"My God Éponine, you're pregnant! You didn't tell me! When did this happen?!"

She looked down at the bump almost bashfully. "We haven't actually told anyone, except Joly who told us in the first place."

"How far along are you?"

"About three and a half months."

Cosette smiled and hugged her again. "Come back to mine, Papa's out."

Éponine returned the smile. "Marius won't be back for another six hours at least."

"How do you fill the time?"

"Cleaning, sleeping, eating, daydreaming. It's more exciting than people make it seem, you know. I daydream all the time."

"What about?"

"All sorts. The future, the present. Complete nonsense. Whatever comes in to my brain."

"I never pictured you as much of a cleaner."

"I tried not to be at first, stereotypes and all that, but there's something nice about knowing Marius comes home to a clean and homely flat every day."

Cosette nodded, opening the gate to 55 Rue Plumet and leading the way up the path. Éponine followed, still marvelling at the size of her house. Whilst her and Marius were on the house-hunt, they were looking more for a small cottage, the size of Cosette's home would be something she'd never get used to.

Following through to the kitchen, Éponine made them some tea, realising Cosette had never been taught. The girls sat at the kitchen table.

"So, aside from...this-" Cosette gestured to Éponine's larger stomach "-what's new?"

"Not a lot. Marius and I are hoping to move in to a cottage before long, so we have more space when the baby comes."

"Nice. Do you think it'll be a boy or a girl?"

"I think girl, but Marius thinks boy. Personally I think I'd prefer a daughter, although I'd love a son too - I just don't know how well I'd cope if a son grew up looking like Gavroche."

Cosette squeezed her hand. "But at the same time, they wouldn't be the same person" she gently reminded.

"I know. Don't get me wrong, I'll love the child whether it's a boy or a girl."

"I know."

"So, what about you?"

"Well, I split from Francis."

"Oh?"

"Mm. My father said he'd seen him gambling and drinking, so didn't approve. It's okay though. There's someone else now."

"You don't mope around, do you?"

"Nope. It's early days - we've only met twice. He's called Claude. Claude Rideau. Not as handsome but that doesn't matter. Friendly, we get on well."

"And you're happy? Not just filling the gap Francis left?"

"Happy, I wouldn't be with him if I wasn't."

"Good."

They both smiled.

"So, when's the baby due?"

"Late October."

"Aww, not long after your wedding anniversary then?"

"Not far apart, no. Anniversary's on the second."

"That's sweet."

They conversed for a good five hours, surprised at how much they had to catch up on. It had been a while since Éponine had had a proper girly chat, and was surprised at how much she missed it.

"I should get back. Marius'll be home soon."

Cosette nodded, walking her to the door. "I'll see you again soon. Promise."

Éponine smiled. "Good" she replied, hugging her friend before she left.

It took her twenty minutes to walk home, feeling considerably better. A hand subconsciously rested on her stomach as she opened the door, depositing her goodies and putting the remains of the money back.

She got home just in time, as Marius appeared ten minutes later. She could no longer throw herself into his arms like she used to for fear of harming the child, so simply hugged him as tightly as possible upon his return.

"You've been out."

"Saw Cosette, got a few things."

"Good. You don't get out much anymore, it's good you've seen a friend" Marius said, kissing the top of her head as his own hand gently rested on her stomach.

"She's with someone else now, Claude-something."

"Doesn't hang about, does she?"

"No, but she's happy."

"Good."

He leaned down and kissed her again. "As are we."

She smiled up at him, placing a hand on top of his.

"As are we."


	19. Kick

**A/N: Helloooooo. Two weeks and I'm in Majorca :D I'll still be updating (if the hotel hasn't got free wifi then I've got a mobile hotspot) although it might not be every day. Or it might be twice a day. I genuinely don't have a clue. So...yeah. Enjoy my lovely little readers!**

* * *

**Prompt (Thank you I Am Your Singer 2006 and I think a couple of others but I can't remember who, sorry!): Éponine and Marius feeling the baby kick for the first time.**

* * *

Éponine yawned loudly.

It was around half past eleven. She'd not been able to get to sleep, even with Marius sleeping beside her. She just had a feeling something was going to happen, she wasn't sure what, but she didn't want to miss whatever it was.

Éponine had always been one to trust her instincts, and they were usually right. Her time on the streets had taught her that she was far better off trusting herself rather than people she knew, even Marius (she trusted him with her life, but he wasn't always right). So when her gut feeling was saying something, she listened.

Although she wish it had happened during the day.

A hand went down to her bump, now a lot larger than it had been before. She was five months in, and at long, long last the morning sickness had stopped. The cravings hadn't started, but she knew they would. In all honesty, she was rather looking forwards to being able to eat constantly without having to have an excuse.

She felt Marius shift behind her. "'Ponine?" she heard him say groggily.

"I'm awake."

"I know you are. Why? You're always asleep right now."

"I don't know, I feel like something important is going to happen but I don't know what."

She felt Marius' hand place itself on top of her steadily growing bump, next to her own, their pinky fingers linked together. "Well, I'm not sleeping either then."

"I don't need you to get sleep-deprived because of me, I'm not that clingy."

"I know. But I don't want to sleep knowing you're still awake and worrying over something."

"I'm not worrying exactly. Just curious."

"Well, I'm staying awake anyway."

"I can't decide if you're being nice or irritating."

"Both."

"Probably."

She smiled as she shuffled back against his chest, his other hand gently placing itself on her shoulder. "If you think something important is going to happen, then I'm not missing it.

"Good."

Both of them smiled, Marius leaning his head forwards to bury his nose in her hair, kissing the base of her neck gently. Their hands remained next to each other on top of her inflated stomach, when they both felt a sharp pressure.

"Was that what I think it was?" Marius said, Éponine able to hear the amazement in his voice.

"If you think it was the baby then I think so to" she replied, face breaking out in to a wide grin. They felt another sharp kick from Éponine's stomach, and Marius felt his eyes welling up.

"Th-that's our child. They know we're here."

"Do you think they can hear us?"

"I don't know."

"Say something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, just say something."

Marius threw aside all realisation of how odd it must look and gently bent down to her stomach. Éponine turned on her back to make it easier, their hands still remaining linked.

"Um, hello in there? Can you hear us?"

A slightly harsher kick came in reply. Marius squeezed his eyes shut to attempt to avoid tears, moving his head back to the pillow and next to Éponine's.

They shared happy smiles, both pairs of eyes wet with happy tears. "They can hear us."

"They can" Marius replied with a grin, leaning forwards to kiss her gently, hand still caressing her lump gently. She smiled in to the kiss, reaching her other arm forwards to gently tease the hair at the nape of his neck.

They were broken apart by yet another kick, causing a chuckle from both of them. "Someone's wanting to make their presence known" Marius joked, kissing her temple.

"I knew something important was going to happen."

"And you were right, like you usually are."

"My ego must have increased by at least fifty percent."

"I'll regret that later."

"Well I am carrying your child so I suppose you'll have to forgive any showing off."

"Of course."

Éponine smiled up at him, before looking down at her stomach again. "I always thought it was odd to have a small person in me but now I know that person can hear me, and kick and everything it's even weirder."

Marius kissed her hair again. "It is, but it's a good sort of odd."

"It is indeed."


	20. Cravings

**A/N: Meh.**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine Person A of your OTP experiencing bizarre pregnancy cravings, and Person B just chuckling and fetching the items for Person A.**

**Also I am aware pregnancy cravings usually start around 3-8 weeks, but never mind. Creative licence and all that jazz.**

* * *

Éponine gave a contented sigh.

Marius had taken the day off, having been overdue a holiday anyway and wanting to be with her. It had been about two weeks since they felt the baby kick, and he or she was still going. It was usually Éponine that felt them, but whenever Marius was there he usually felt something to.

Like now, for instance.

They were lying on the sofa, Éponine on top of him, and his hand resting on her bump. They usually spent their evenings like that, talking about whatever came in to their heads (they never seemed to run out of topics) and sharing a few kisses. But since Marius was off work for the day, they were spending their morning like it instead.

"Marius?"

"Mm?"

"I really want some strawberries."

"We'll get some tomorrow."

"No, like, a craving type thing."

"Oh. Right, okay. Well, I can run down to the market if you want?"

"Would you mind? I'd go myself, but not really an option, or at least not in your mind" she replied, gesturing to her bump.

Marius kissed her head. "Two minutes. Anything else, whilst I'm out?"

"Not at the moment."

"At the moment. Reassuring."

"Sod off, I'm pregnant."

Marius smiled, easing himself out from underneath her and leaning down to draw her in to a gentle kiss. "Back soon."

Éponine sighed after he left. She'd avoided the cravings up until then, but it was clear they weren't going to go away from this point on.

True to his word, Marius soon returned with a fresh box of strawberries. He served them up with a sprinkle of sugar, making Éponine smile. She devoured them within a minute, causing a chuckle from Marius as he wrapped an arm around her, hand resting on the side of her bump.

"I needed those."

"I know you did."

"You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not" Marius replied, leaning over to kiss her temple gently. "Obviously I've never been pregnant but I want you to be as comfortable as possible, it doesn't look much fun."

"It's alright. I just miss being able to be so active. I can't even clean properly anymore, this bump gets in the way when I try to bend down."

"Not long now."

"I know."

Marius kissed her cheek, gently pulling her closer to him.

"Marius?"

"Mm?"

"I really want some asparagus."

"You hate asparagus."

"I know, but I want it."

"Um...are you sure?"

"No. I want some carrot actually."

"How are they related?"

"I don't know. I just suddenly want some carrot instead."

"Sure it won't change?"

"Sure."

"Okay" Marius said, squeezing her waist gently as he got up and headed to their cupboards, coming back with a peeled carrot.

He watched with a small smile as she devoured it, loudly crunching as she swallowed. "Feeling better?"

"Mm."

"Good."

Éponine leaned her head against his shoulder, his hand gently playing with her hair. "Four months time."

"What about names?"

"I don't know."

"Wow, Marius. Helpful."

"Ssh."

She chuckled shuffling closer. "I guess we'll decide later on then" she said with a happier sigh. He kissed her lightly, on her cheek, temple and lips. "We will."

They sat in contented silence, thinking about the upcoming months. Éponine was still firm in her thinking it was going to be a girl, and Marius was still adamant it was going to be a boy. They'd know, in time.

"Ouch."

"What?"

"Baby kicked. They're bloody strong for such a tiny thing."

"That's why I think it's a boy."

"What, can girls not be strong? I'll have you know I can lift a fifty pound sack of flour thank you very much."

"I know, I saw you. And I don't mean that. Just that stereotypically boys are known to be stronger."

"I still think it's a girl."

"We'll see."

"Marius?"

"Yes?"

"I really want some grapes."

"You've never had grapes before."

"I know. But I want some."

"Éponine, you don't know what they taste like."

"I've tasted wine. That's close enough."

Marius smiled, kissing her forehead.

"Back in five, then."


	21. Telling the Family

**A/N: So hello there. Enjoy, mis amigos!**

**_**I've got something to ask you guys, actually.**_**

**_Basically I had a massive plot attack last night (and I mean big, my brain was generating ideas for nearly two hours) about doing a modern-day school AU fic, also Marius/Éponine. The issue is I don't really read or like them that much, which is why I'm so clueless as to why I feel like writing one. But I just do._**

**_Would anyone here be interested in reading one, in the off-chance I did write it?_**

* * *

**Prompt (thank you I Am Your Singer 2006): Imagine Marius and Éponine telling her mother and Azelma about Éponine's pregnancy.**

* * *

"Is getting up really necessary?"

"Unfortunately."

Éponine sighed as she rested her head on Marius' chest, his hand gently stroking up and down her arm. "You said we were going to tell them today, and we will."

"I know. I just feel bad it took us this long to realise they didn't know."

"Don't. They'll still be happy."

"Hopefully. I'm surprised I didn't bump in to Azelma at some point, to be honest."

"I'm sure she's okay. Besides, you said you got a note?"

"Just explaining she was staying with Mama."

"There you go then, she's probably spending time with her."

"For five and a half months?"

Marius kissed her cheek. "I'm sure she's okay" he repeated, giving her arm a squeeze as she shuffled slightly.

The two of them climbed out of bed, Marius pulling her in to a gentle kiss to wake her up properly. She smiled as she broke away, walking over to the wardrobe to pull out her dress.

"I think you'll need to help me let the hem down again. I'm positive this bump is bigger."

"It looks fine, honestly."

"It's so weird seeing myself with a large stomach. I'm so used to seeing nothing but skin and bones."

He kissed her head gently. "You've gained some weight since you moved in though."

"I have."

"Which is good."

"I agree."

They both got dressed in a comfortable silence. Marius was usually the first to finish dressing, and went to make them both some toast.

"Feeling okay?"

"Not sick if that's what you mean."

"So butter's okay?"

"Yep" she called through, doing up the fastenings of her dress and heading through to the kitchen, a hand resting on her bump like usual. Marius kissed her again lightly, placing a hand on top of hers and giving her a reassuring smile as he served up their breakfast.

"What do you think their reaction will be?"

"Mama, maybe faintly surprised. Azelma shocked."

"Why would your mother only be fairly surprised?"

Éponine looked at him, an eyebrow quirking slightly. "A married couple in love, we've been married for nine months now. She knows we both wanted children. Doesn't take a genius to figure one might be on the way" she said, biting in to her toast hungrily.

"True."

Whilst it was true the morning sickness had stopped, it had been replaced with intense hunger, neither of them really sure why. She ended up eating another three slices of toast before her stomach was finally satisfied, which she worried a little over, especially as they couldn't afford to continuously keep buying food.

They ate in silence, Marius with an arm around Éponine's waist. She was nervous about telling her family, especially when her connection with her mother was still so new.

Madame Thénardier had moved after Thénardier had been imprisoned, which was why they were no longer neighbours. She was now living in a slightly better but still rather shabby room on the outskirts of Paris. But she was happy enough, which made Éponine happy. It did mean however that they had to take a carriage, and whilst it was still quite a fun experience for Éponine, it also let her have more time to grow nervous.

The journey was as quiet as the breakfast, tension in the air. The tension was not between the couple, Éponine was even sitting on Marius' lap, but of what was to come.

It took about twenty minutes for them to arrive, Marius helping her down the steps and giving her a quick, reassuring (if slightly awkward because of Éponine's current size) hug, kissing her forehead. "Which room?"

"12, I think."

Marius gave her a quick kiss on her head, sensing her nerves.

"Lets go."

As they headed up a flight of stairs, Éponine found herself tightly gripping Marius' hand, squeezing it harder as they knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Me, Éponine, and Marius."

"Éponine? It's you?"

"Yes, Mama."

"On my way."

They heard footsteps in the hall and the door opened, where they were greeted by a smiling Madame Thénardier. She went to give her daughter a hug when she caught sight of the bump.

"I see congratulations are in order."

"I suppose" Éponine said, almost sheepishly.

"I think you'd both best come in then" she said, finishing the hug she was giving and shaking Marius' hand.

The flat was in reasonable condition, and Azelma could be seen on the sofa.

"'Ponine? You didn't tell me you were pregnant!"

"Hadn't seen you" Éponine replied, leaning down to hug her sister. She was glad to see Azelma wasn't as skinny as she had been, clearly she'd been earning enough to keep herself eating.

"Sit down."

Marius and Éponine did just that, sitting themselves opposite Madame Thénardier on the sofa. She clasped his hand once more, and he ran his thumb gently over her wedding ring, a habit for when she was worrying.

"So, I see you're getting a new arrival?"

"We are, Madame."

"None of the formality. Call me Marie."

"Marie it is."

"You don't, you know, mind, do you?"

"Do I mind that you're pregnant, or that you didn't tell me sooner?"

"Both."

"Of course I don't mind. I'm happy, really happy. Although I suppose I feel a bit old, knowing I'm soon to be a grandmother."

Éponine sighed, relieved. "Good. I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. We-"

"You got too caught up at the prospect of being first time parents."

"Pretty much."

"I was exactly the same when I was pregnant with you. Didn't tell my parents until I was eight months in. I don't blame you, although it would have been nice to have known sooner."

"I'm glad too" Azelma piped up with a smile. The couple returned it with grateful smiles of their own, as Marie continued.

"So, how far along are you?"

"Almost six months."

"Kicking yet?"

"Yep."

"Oh, can I feel? Please 'Ponine, let me feel the baby" Azelma chirped. Éponine smiled and nodded, placing one of her sisters hand on her stomach. She pressed down a little, and the hand was soon met with a sharp kick from the inside, causing a squeal from Azelma. "It kicked me! That's so cool!" she said, grinning and sitting back down on her chair.

"May I?"

"Of course, Mama."

Marie did the same, smiling as she felt the pressure. "Healthy one there. Stronger the kick, the better. You were an absolute nightmare, surprised I didn't get some internal bruising or whatever they call it."

"Oh. Um. Sorry?"

She smiled, leaning across to take her daughters hand. "Don't be. You turned out alright."

Marius smiled at the girls, watching the relief and happiness on Éponine's face. They chatted with her family for almost five hours, ending with a promise to visit with the baby.

"Oh, one more thing, both of you" Éponine asked as they stood up.

"Yes?"

"Do you think it'll be a boy or a girl?"

"Girl."

"Boy."

"Interesting. So, 'Zelma, lets hope we're right" she said to her sister with a wink.

They said their goodbyes, Éponine hugging her mother fiercely, and waved until they were out of sight at the bottom of the staircase, heading for the carriage.

"That went so much better than I expected."

"I agree. Your mother's a lot less scary than I expected."

"Excuse me?" Éponine said, pretending to be offended, but her smile gave her away.

"Well, I could only judge by your father."

"True" came the reply, as she leaned up to kiss him. "I think home, bath, bed."

"I second that" Marius replied, as Éponine linked her arm through his.

"Three months to go."

"Three and a week, actually."

"Close enough."

"Close enough indeed" Marius said with a smile, drawing her in to another happy kiss as they headed home.


	22. Cottages

**A/N: Okay, so news on the possible school AU fic:**

**Instead of writing it myself, I'm co-writing with Rainbow-Bunnii :) Not revealing much but there will be a Marius/Éponine pairing (eventually anyway). But the idea is definitely a go-ahead, and once it's posted (it'll be on Rainbow-Bunnii's account) then please have a look, if you want to :)**

* * *

**Prompt: Imagine your OTP looking at houses they want to move in to.**

* * *

"So, where do you want to start?"

"I really don't mind."

Marius and Éponine were looking down at his list of places. They'd been saving for around a year now, having started shortly after Éponine had moved in, and finally, they had enough for a six-room cottage. Now, they had to choose.

"What about this one?" Éponine said, pointing at the one closest. Not too far from where they were, in a more rural area of Paris, it had been one of their favourites.

"Alright. We'll have to walk to the stable though."

"I can walk twenty miles in a day, you know."

"You could before you were pregnant."

"Being seven months pregnant doesn't give me any less stamina."

"Either way, we're taking a cart. Humour me."

She sighed, giving his cheek a quick kiss. "Alright then."

Marius smiled, noting a "1" next to her chosen cottage. "After that?"

"I think the one not far away from Cosette."

"Okay, then near the Rue de Saint Dominique?"

"Perfect."

They stood, Marius pocketing their list. It was reasonably warm outside, so neither bothered with coats (although Marius pocketed one of her smaller shawls just in case) and they began their walk down to the stables.

Before too long the two of them were comfortably seated in a cart. The ride wasn't too bumpy, which was a relief for both of them. It only took roughly ten minutes to arrive at the first cottage.

It was in seemingly good condition from the outside. A large creeper of ivy gently wound up one side, giving it a homely appearance against the white-painted brickwork. They exchanged quick, reassuring smiles as they walked up the path, Éponine slipping her hand into Marius'.

They knocked on the door and were greeted by an elderly woman, in her seventies at least. "You must be that couple, the Pondmercy's? The ones who look to buy this place?"

"Pontmercy, yes. My name is Marius and this is my wife, Éponine."

"Agatha Turner. Do come in."

Éponine gave a quick smile as they followed the woman down the hall. "Where do you want to start?"

"Up to you, Ms Turner."

"Agatha, please."

"Agatha, then."

"Well, may as well start in the heart of the house."

They were led into a reasonably large room, presumably the lounge. Two sofas sandwiched a small table, littered with knitting and sewing. A few pictures hung on the white-painted walls, and a fireplace in the middle of one. A window revealed a good view of a calmer part of the Seine, and it was clearly in good condition.

They had a look at the three rooms they would use as bedrooms, and had a similar impression. The first was big enough for a double bed, which the two of them had immediately agreed in purchasing, the second a good size for two children to share. A third connected to the second, smaller but still a reasonable size for one. All three had a window with a window-seat, enough room for beds, and nice views.

The kitchen wasn't the cleanest nor the brightest, and felt somewhat disconnected, but Éponine was already itching to get going, knowing she could have it more or less spotless in a day. A bit of scrubbing and the kitchen counters would come up nicely, the stove would work well enough and the cupboards could easily hold enough space.

They had a look in the bathroom which wasn't in much better condition. A little limescale was around the bath, and a patch of mould on the windowsill, but Éponine knew she could get rid of it. She'd make it safe for them and their children.

Marius had been watching her the whole time, the way she looked around almost in awe. In the slightly scruffier rooms, he could practically hear her brain whirring as she thought of different ways to make it presentable and liveable.

"So, you like what you see?"

"We do. If it's okay me and my wife would like to have a look around a couple of others, but you've certainly got a lovely house here."

"I'll keep it out of sales 'til you've made your decision."

"That'd be wonderful' Éponine replied with a grin, looking up at Marius, who had tucked an arm around her waist.

"We should have made our decision by the end of the day."

"Alright. Thank you."

"Thank _you_, Agatha" the two replied, exiting the cottage and walking towards the cart.

Once they were comfortably seated, Marius steered them towards the second.

"I liked it there. It wasn't in the best of conditions but it was homely."

"I agree, but let's see the others before making any decisions."

"Naturally."

The second house was on the Rue Cambronne, not far from Rue Plumet where Cosette lived. Éponine had high hopes for the cottage, as it was a rather upmarket area.

And she was clearly right to. Even from the outside the cottage looked in pristine condition. Marius helped her down as they went up the path, not a single blade of grass out of place in the front garden.

They were greeted by a rather tight-lipped man, with a funny moustache that seemed to turn up. They shook hands, although he never gave his name, which made Éponine feel a little on edge.

The house was just as clean on the inside as the outside. The surfaces shined, the walls were painted, the sofa looked as good as new. But Éponine wasn't sure. It seemed almost too perfect to her. And too perfect usually meant trouble, in her experience.

The man showing them said very little, literally just naming the rooms and letting them look around. He stood a little too close to Éponine than he should, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. To put it shortly, he reminded her of Montparnasse, and that alone was enough to put her off, knowing he would know where they lived should they decide to live there.

When he went to show them the kitchen, she hung back. Marius noticed and frowned, walking over to her.

"You alright?"

"Not really. He's acting like Montparnasse, uptight and shady and keeps standing too close to me. I can feel his breath on my neck, I don't want to cause a fuss but he's kinda creepy."

"Alright. Lets just see the kitchen and go, then."

She nodded, leaning her head against his shoulder as his arm wound around her waist, following the man through. Marius noticed how he seemed to edge closer to his wife, and tightened his grip on her waist slightly, feeling her tense up.

"Well, you have a lovely house, Monsieur, but I don't think it's for us."

"I'm sure your pretty little wife would disagree" the man replied with a toothless grin. Éponine tensed again, not meeting his rather wandering eye.

"I would not. I agree with my husband. Not for us. Thank you. Goodbye."

They left without so much as a second glance. Once they were out of sight behind a hedge, Marius gave her a quick hug, as she consoled herself. "It's okay, he can't hurt you."

"I know. He just...he was so like 'Parnasse. That smile looked like his and all."

"Well, we won't be buying that house, so it's alright."

He felt her nod gently, giving her a squeeze. "You're okay. You're okay" he repeated, kissing her hair. She nodded again, giving him a quick smile as they got in the cart, refusing to look back in case the man was watching.

The third and final house was on the Rue de Saint Dominique. It looked like it had been in use for a while, not quite falling down but clearly rather old. It looked nice enough though, cheery flowers out the front and windows framed with pretty curtains.

They were greeted by a plump woman, likely in her mid-thirties. "Hello dears. My name is Marianne, you must be Marius and Éponine Pontmercy?"

"We are, pleasure to meet you."

Marianne smiled, opening the door wider for them to step in.

The cottage looked alright. It wasn't the cleanest or the best-built, but they could see the woman loved her home. "May I ask why you're selling it?" Éponine asked curiously, looking around.

"My husband doesn't like it 'round here no more. Shame, me and the kids love it."

"Wouldn't he listen if you asked to stay?"

"Probably. I don't like to disappoint him though."

Éponine gave her a sympathetic smile as they had a look around. The walls were wallpapered, although the corners were peeling a little. Parts of the carpet were a little threadbare, and an armchair had a stain in it. Nevertheless the woman clearly took pride in her house, and both of them respected that.

They had a look in the bedrooms, a little disappointed with the size. They could have one big enough for the two of them, but the others would only house one, and whilst they had no set number on the largeness of the family they'd like, it would be nice to have the option to have more than two additions.

The kitchen was a little poky, although clean. Marianne showed them around explaining each room in detail, although Éponine privately wasn't sure there was much to tell.

After a further ten minutes, the two of them consulted.

"I'm not sure. I think I'd rather go with the first."

"Me too. It seemed a lot more, well, _us_, really."

"Shall we tell her now?"

"I think so" Marius replied, kissing her forehead as they went back through to the kitchen.

"You've certainly got a lovely house here, and we can see why you take pride. But we aren't sure it's for us."

"Alright. No problem at all. Hopefully you'll find the place to suit you" Marianne said, smile not faltering. "Take care. And congratulations, by the way" she added, gesturing to Éponine's stomach.

"Thank you. Have a good day" Marius and Éponine replied, shaking hands with her individually.

As they returned to the cart, Marius leaned down to kiss her temple. "So. Agatha Turner's cottage, soon to become home to the Pontmercy family."

Éponine grinned up at him as she stepped into the cart. "I can get the kitchen and bathroom sorted in a day. We can get the boys to help move the furniture we want, and since the house isn't really ours, I'm sure Mrs Laurence can house somebody in our flat."

"I agree. The first incidentally happened to be the cheapest, so we'll still have some spare."

"Sounds perfect."

"Perfect indeed" Marius replied, clicking the horse forwards as they headed back to what was soon to become their new home.


	23. Planning

**A/N : Hellooooo there :3 This is up way earlier than I expected - so sorry for the lack of update yesterday but things were pretty hectic, and I was so tired. Very unlikely to be a double update today but maybe, if I get time.**

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**Prompt: (Thank you Katelyn Tveit, not just for this prompt but also for your lovely review :)) Éponine and Marius deciding how to decorate the new baby's nursery.**

* * *

"'Ponine?"

"Mm?"

"What about if we put the cradle by the window instead?"

"Sounds good."

The two were crouched over a rough pencil sketch of a square, with several labelled squares placed at random points. They'd been planning how they were going to decorate the baby's room for about twenty minutes, and were just getting to sketching it out, despite the fact it was about nine in the evening.

"I think we should use the smaller room at first."

"I agree. Since, should we have more than two, we'll have two of the same gender who can share the bigger room, which I'd rather leave until we know what gender."

Marius nodded, making a note in the upper corner of the paper and kissing her temple quickly. "What colour should we paint?"

"I don't know. I'd like to avoid the whole pink for a girl, blue for a boy thing."

"Plus we don't know what gender."

"True. What colours are stereotypically in between?"

"Um, yellow, orange, white. I think red, it's your favourite colour too."

"Would red not be a bit bright?"

"Not sure. What about going for a pale blue? That was Azelma's favourite, I think."

"That could work. I guess it's kind of the stereotype but if it's a girl it won't be."

"Pale blue then?"

Éponine smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Pale blue it is."

Marius jotted it down, kissing her hair. "If we keep it blue and white then that's pretty neutral, I think.

Éponine nodded, stretching.

"Do you want to take a break? Go for a walk or something?"

She had to smile at his concern. "No, I'm okay. Remember it's me who spent five hours in a packing crate."

"Why did you spend five hours in a packing crate?"

"I was playing hide and seek with Gavroche and he got bored before he found me."

Marius chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist. "So, I think we need an armchair or something in there, for when you're feeding him or her. I can't imagine you'd want to stand all the time."

"You'd be using it too. Probably not to feed, but holding and cuddles. I can always sit on you if needed."

"If you want."

"Good. Instead of the crib, should we get a kind of hamper thing to put by the window instead? It'll be easier to move in the summer to stop the baby getting too hot."

"That sounds better. We'll need somewhere to put all the essentials, like napkins, bottles, cloths for burping, any ointments from Joly, and some toys. Plus a chest of drawers for outfits. I know we won't be able to afford many but we'll be able to get a few."

"Sounds perfect. Shelf should be near the crib but not above, no offence Marius but your DIY skills aren't the best. I don't need our child being crushed one night."

"Okay. Chest of drawers by the door?"

"Sure."

They spent another couple of hours planning everything to perfection, making sure things would be precisely how they wanted. Éponine had even started mentally thinking of where they'd be able to buy these things. They were scheduled to move in to the cottage in about two weeks time, with Enjolras, Grantaire and Joly agreeing to help. She was planning to go baby shopping with Marius, Cosette and Musichetta (who she hadn't seen in quite a while) at some point in the next week.

It was still a bit surreal, moving house. She'd moved before, from the inn to the Gorbeau tenement, but she'd been a lot smaller then, and had just gone along with it, making sure Gavroche and Azelma were okay.

Marius folded the paper and put it next to their anniversary picture, leaning it against the frame. He gently pulled Éponine on to his lap, lying down so that she was on top of him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his hands on her bump, earning a kick from the baby. Smiling, he kissed her head a couple of times as she sighed happily.

"It's odd to think this is all actually happening."

"I agree. I won't lie, it didn't take as long as I expected for us to be able to afford it."

"I'm assuming your pay rise a month ago helped."

"It certainly did. I never used to accept them before, but I did this time."

"Good."

Marius smiled, kissing her cheek gently. "This time next month we'll have a proper cottage of our own."

"And in two, a cottage and a child" she mumbled, clearly tired.

"We should start thinking of names, shouldn't we."

Éponine yawned, shifting slightly as she turned her head to the side, laying it on his shoulder. "Maybe tomorrow" she said, closing her eyes, Marius caressing her bump as she slipped off into a rather needed sleep.


	24. First AN of the series

Hi everyone,

Sorry for no chapter yesterday. Not one today either. I'm really feeling ill, at the point where I feel dizzy just standing up, so any chapter I attempted would probably be an insult to this beautiful ship.

Hope you all understand. Possibly tomorrow, but don't rely on it, if I'm feeling anything like I am today then it probably won't happen. I'm off to bed now to try and sleep some of this off.

Sorry to let you down again :(

~Kat x

(Also, yes, I did change my pen name :) )


	25. Changes

**A/N: Hello there. This probably isn't great but I didn't want to get to the point where I haven written in a while and lose inspiration, so yeah. Enjoy :)**

**ALSO**

**Okay, so I did have names for their children to pick out, but I'm curious as to what you guys come up with. So if you have any, male or female, French or not, I'd love to hear them, since you guys could probably do a better job than me. So submit away! :)**

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**Prompt (thank you I Am Your Singer 2006): Éponine and Marius reacting to her changes during the pregnancy. (I've also thrown in some rather fierce hormones and a joint bath for good measure).**

* * *

Éponine sighed.

She was stood in front of a mirror with her blouse pulled up, exposing her bump. Despite having had it for not much less than eight months, she still found it interesting, the fact that their child was growing inside her.

What she did miss was her figure before.

She'd never go back to the showing bones, the caving stomach, the spindly limbs, of course not. But she couldn't deny wanting her skinny-but-not-unhealthily-so figure back. Marius still constantly told her she was beautiful, but she only half-believed it. If the rest of her was in proportion, rather than it just being her stomach that was enlarged, she wouldn't have an issue. She'd always envied girls with plumper figures. It meant they ate well, had somewhat good lives (well, some of the time anyway) and they always looked beautiful, happy.

Another thing she missed was her agility. She couldn't even run anymore, which was a nightmare, as she was so used to flying around the flat, jumping over furniture, lying on the wardrobe a couple of times (she wasn't sure why she did that, but for some reason it was almost relaxing in a sense, a small but private space. Not that she didn't enjoy being around Marius, but everybody needs their personal time, and Éponine was no exception).

But not anymore. She couldn't throw herself at him when he walked through the door anymore, she could hardly hug him properly without her bump getting in the way. She could still walk fine, but not very far, as back pains had begun to trouble her.

She sighed for about the fourth time that evening, when Marius poked his head around the door. "You alright?"

"Just thinking."

"What about?"

"How much more I could do before I was pregnant. Heck, I've never been particularly pretty, but at least I didn't have a three foot long stomach or however long this thing is."

"Don't say that. You're beautiful, and you know it."

"Oh, will you stop saying that! I'm not, okay? I'm fine with that and you should be too, so will you just move _on_ and stop being a fool about it!"

Oh yes. And the newly found raging hormones that had worked their way in to her system.

Marius always remained calm, however much of a brat she felt like acting. Her mother had privately told him the first pregnancy was always the worst, and that whenever Éponine had been upset as a child she could be appeased with a hot bath, a tight hug and some chocolate. She'd kept them under good control, but the further in she got to the pregnancy, the worse they became, and despite being a master in hiding emotion, there are some things you just can't hold back.

"You are, 'Ponine" he said, getting up and kissing her forehead. "Beautiful" - he kissed her nose. "Pretty" - he kissed her cheek. "Witty" - her temple. "Incredible" - between her eyes. "Perfect" - her lips, softly, gently, tenderly stroking her shoulder blades. He gently pulled back when he felt her begin to shake, when she grabbed him again and started crying noisily in to his shoulder.

Bloody hormones.

He whispered a few comforts in her ear, remembering advice he'd been given by her mother. _Let her cry, shout, rage and scream, but don't get annoyed, because she doesn't mean it_ had been her exact words. _She's more vulnerable than she cares to show, even with you around. She's not clingy, but she does need reassuring from time to time, like we all do._

So he tightened his hold as much as her bump would let him as she sobbed, rubbing circles on her back. "Chocolate, bath, bed, I think" be said softly, after at least ten minutes of constant, spontaneous tears.

She sniffed, nodding gently. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to shout."

"I know you don't. Don't apologise for something you can't control."

She nodded once more, giving her eyes a wipe and stepping back. Marius kissed her forehead gently, walking through to the kitchen to get the desired chocolate. It worked when it was her "time of the month", as he called it, so hopefully it would have some effect now.

He could hear her heating up the water for the tub, and began to think of how he could make things more pleasant. He was used to her little hormone rages, but this one had been one of her worst yet. So he had a look in their little bathroom cabinet, finding some lavender oil and a small bar of her favourite soap, plus a small bottle of shampoo. Filling the bath, he added a few drops of the oil and placed the toiletries on the side, hanging up their towels as she walked in, eating the chocolate he'd given her hungrily.

"Smells nice."

"Lavender."

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"For being so, well, nice. So _you_. Even when I start yelling and crying my eyeballs out you never get angry."

"Why would I get angry? I've nothing to get angry over."

"You do."

"I don't. Now shush, and relax."

The two of them undressed, slipping in to the warm water. Éponine leaned back against his chest, as he kissed the top of her head, arms wrapping around her and resting on her bump. The baby let out a sharp kick, making her wince slightly. "They're not half painful sometimes."

He kissed her temple gently. "Not much longer now."

She smiled, as he leaned her forwards and took the shampoo bottle in his hands, lathering up and beginning to rub it in to her hair. She smiled, shivering slightly as his fingers massaged her scalp, only then realising how long it had been since she'd bothered to wash it properly.

Taking his time, making sure each individual strand was gently coated in the lather, they discussed random topics, talking about what came in to their heads. Marius took a jug from the corner and gently rinsed out his wife's hair, making sure not to leave any shampoo on her scalp to stop it being irritated or itchy. Instead of her leaning back against him though, he began to massage her shoulders instead, causing a low moan from a very content Éponine.

She hadn't realised how tense she was until his hands gently loosened and faded the knots in her upper back. It was true, she'd done her fair share of worrying, but she hadn't thought it was that bad. Her thought process slowly melted away as she closed her eyes, leaning in to his touch as she let out another small moan.

A massage, some relaxing and a couple of kisses later, they decided the water was too cold to stay in, and got out, Marius making Éponine laugh by accidentally bundling the towel over her face when he'd been aiming for her shoulders. He simply grinned and wrapped it around her, picking up his own and tying it around his waist as he rubbed up and down her arms gently, worried she'd catch a chill.

It didn't take long for the two of them to be curled up on the sofa in front of the fire. Despite it being late August, the nights had been surprisingly cold (although the day was a different matter, as it was scorching at times), and huddling together in front of the flame was a favourite time for both.

It didn't take long for Éponine to fall asleep completely, occasionally letting out those adorable tiny snores. She'd likely slap him if he told her, but she looked so fragile, so delicate when she slept. Even though they'd been sharing a bed for who knows how long, watching her sleep was a habit he never seemed to get tired of.

After all, a sleeping Éponine is a truly cute sight to see.

Just don't tell her that.


	26. Shopping

**A/N: 3% iPad battery left, there was only like a 20% chance you'll be reading this on the 18th but you got lucky （＾ν＾）So...yeah. Also, if you haven't checked out me and the lovely Rainbow-Bunnii's joint fic, 'Hugo High', then please do! Enjoy, mis amigos :)**

* * *

**Prompt: Marius, Éponine, Cosette and Musichetta baby shopping.**

* * *

"That's adorable, but that would go so much better with your colour theme...oh my gosh that is amazing...no, you _have_ to get this one...I can't choose!"

"'Sette, calm down!"

"Sorry. I get over-excited shopping."

"Because none of us had guessed that" Éponine said with an eye roll and a smile.

The group were strolling through an indoor market that specialised in children just outside Paris. So far they'd picked up a large pack of ten napkins, a small but pretty silver rattle, four burping cloths, two blankets and two "dream catchers" (one for the baby and one for Éponine, who insisted they looked nice and wanted to hang one above their bed. She wasn't about to admit it was that she was worried about nightmares coming, although Marius had probably guessed already).

Though they still had to select some furniture to be delivered.

Cosette had really come in to her own there, having been designing her own bedroom since she was twelve. And none of the others could deny she was good, although her taste was a little expensive for their budgets. She could instantly pick out a complete furniture set based on a colour or style given, and was darting about left, right and center.

Musichetta was mainly there to congratulate and catch up with Éponine. She'd been away training as a ballet dancer for a few of months, leaving little spare time, and had only recently got back. Joly said it was the pain of losing Bossuet alongside her love of the art, making her need a distraction. She was certainly quieter than she had been the last time Éponine had seen her.

The three of them had never been openly affectionate with their somewhat unusual relationship, as there was a pretty strict taboo on it. Musichetta and Joly had both been disowned, Bossuet voluntarily moving out, but they'd been happy together. Even without Bossuet they were doing alright, but both still missed him terribly.

"What about this one?"

They walked over to where Cosette was standing by a raised, hand-woven hamper for ten francs. It was stable and not too heavy, with a small cover long enough to shield the baby's eyes from sunlight, and came with a small pillow-mattress, which fitted it perfectly.

"I think it's ideal. 'Ponine?"

"Brilliantly made, good size. What do you think, 'Chetta?"

The older girl studied it, tipping her hat to one side. It was unusual to see a woman wearing a mans hat, but it had been Bossuet's, and she never went anywhere without it. "Nice, clean, would go well. I'd say buy it."

"Lets take it then."

Before too long the hamper was safely in the carriage they'd rented, and Marius was beginning to think there would be enough room to store a crib there too, if they put the hamper inside it. They'd seen a gorgeous ebony one, but it had been thirty seven francs, which was out of the question.

After another twenty minutes strolling, Musichetta called them over. "What about this one? Fifteen francs, sturdy, no splinters, varnished wood, comes with a mattress and one side can be remover for easier access. We can fit it in the carriage, and it's a good size."

Marius smiled. "Sounds perfect" he said, to which Éponine grinned, nodding. "We'll still have about ten francs left over, right?"

He nodded, fishing the right amount out of their purse and paying. It took Marius, Cosette and Musichetta to carry it (Éponine had wanted to help, but Marius had stopped letting her carry or move heavy objects, claiming it was bad for her. She felt a bit useless, but brushed it aside) as there was weights in the bottom, to stop a child from pushing it over later on.

"Still got a few things left on the list, but I'm exhausted. Little cake break, anybody?"

The four of them all agreed to stop for some food and a rest now, Marius insisting they sit indoors to stop Éponine overheating (seemingly forgetting that she'd previously spend every single day out in the sun from dawn 'til dusk. But she found his concern sweet, if a little irritating sometimes, and went with it).

It didn't take long for each to have a large slice of cake and a glass of water. Éponine was digging in to a chocolate, whilst Musichetta went for cheesecake and Marius and Cosette choosing an English sponge. For a while all that could be heard was silent cake appreciation as they dug in, none of them realising quite how hungry they were.

Éponine was the first to finish, despite having the largest slice. Her intense hunger patterns still hadn't left, but her excuse was that she was supposed to be eating for two people anyway, leaning over to take a forkful of Marius' dish and chewing thoughtfully.

"So, 'Chetta, what's things like with your dancing?"

"Good. I'm at it eight hours a day so I'm always tired coming back, but Joly and-Joly, I mean, is always there with a meal ready. We've got a performance early December, actually."

"Let us know when" Éponine replied, deciding it was best to ignore her slip of the tongue. "Well be there."

"Thanks. I'll see what I can do in regards to tickets."

"Count me in too, I don't know you that well but I'd like to" Cosette said, being the last to finish. Éponine always marvelled at her dainty eating habits, wondering how she could eat so slowly. Then again, aside from her time at the inn, she hadn't known what it was to be properly hungry, so wolfing down her meals was never a necessity.

Musichetta nodded, smiling.

"So, how's things going with Claude?" Marius asked, Cosette, who blushed profoundly. "Good. Father lets me go out with him by myself now, he approves."

"Any kisses yet?"

"'Ponine!"

"Don't act so embarrassed, you started talking about my wedding night may I remind you."

Cosette huffed. "If you must know, then yes. He took me to a restaurant and kissed me on the way back."

"Good?"

"Very."

Marius and Musichetta were both feeling a little uncomfortable at Éponine and Cosette's "girl talk". Musichetta had never been one for girly conversations. Well, technically neither had Éponine, but she was now.

"So, Marius, 'Ponine tells me you think it's a boy?"

He nodded. "I do. She insists it's a girl though."

"Thought of names?"

"Not yet, no. I've had a few whirling about in my brain, but I'm not sure."

"Well, you've got another month. Moving in to the cottage next week, I hear?"

"Yep, on the tenth."

"That's good. I don't know how much use my Joly is going to be though, I swear I'm stronger than him."

"You probably are" Éponine chipped in, causing a couple of chuckles. "If we're all done, I think we've got a couple more things to get."

Everyone nodded, and Marius paid the waiter, tucking an arm around Éponine as they headed back to the marketplace to complete their shopping.

About half an hour later, they'd picked up two cuddly toys, another rattle, some soft building blocks for later on, a thicker blanket for the winter, two bibs (again, for later on), two small pillows and an assortment of neutrally-coloured baby clothes. Plus three tins of light blue paint, having had to have chipped in to their housekeeping money, but knowing this was more important.

There was hardly much room to move in the carriage on the way back, even with Éponine sitting on Marius and the other two squished up tightly. The journey took about twenty minutes, and they went to the cottage instead, as the elderly lady had already moved in with her granddaughter, leaving the couple to do what they wanted.

Having stored everything in the small room that would be the baby's, not worrying about where they'd arrange it, the four got back in the carriage to drop Musichetta and Cosette home. Musichetta was the first to leave, bidding everyone a goodbye and being greeted back with a deep hug from Joly, and then Cosette, who's father was waiting.

Once they were both gone, Éponine lay across the seats, resting her head in Marius' lap as he gently played with her hair. "I feel so sorry for Joly and Musichetta" he said, kissing her forehead as she nodded. "Me too. They couldn't publicly display their relationship as it was, having to keep everything in private. Anyone could see those three were some of the happiest people on the earth, despite their relationship often being frowned on. According to Joly, Musichetta gets a lot of nightmares about Bossuet being shot, poor girl."

"At least they still have eachother."

"Mm. And thank God they have. If she'd lost both, she'd be absolutely broken."

Marius nodded sympathetically. "I know. I almost lost you, remember."

Her hand instinctively went to her shoulder, where she'd been shot attempting to save Marius, and there was a dent in her skin. "Worth it, though" she murmured.

"Let's not live in the past, and think about how we're now fully kitted out."

She smiled as he leaned down to kiss her deeply, other hand reaching down to stroke her cheek. The last time they'd been in this position had been just after their wedding, and it was a nice sense of déjà vu of both of them.

"Let's do that indeed."


	27. Moving In

**A/N: Sorry for the two updates that, oh yeah, ****_don't exist_****. I've set some Samantha Barks-themed reminders to update this to catch my attention (example: if Sam can remember her rehearsal times and dates, then Kat can get her backside in gear and update Reality...I hope it works XD). Off on holiday Tuesday, I'll do my best to update but apparently the WiFi there is a bit dodgy, so whether you'll actually see them or not is a very different question.**

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**Also, I am unbelievably tired. And feeling like I could be sick at any moment. So I probably won't be too happy with this. It's likely very uninteresting. But oh well. I keep making typos so much that I want to throw this thing across the room sometimes, but if you're reading this then rest assured, my sense and tiredness prevented me doing that (plus the lack of £200 replacement money in my bank account).**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP moving in to their new home.**

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"You've got paint in your hair."

"Fabulous."

Marius and Éponine were in the middle of painting what would be their baby's nursery. Initially Marius had wanted to do it by himself, but Éponine was having none of it. She'd accepted that he wouldn't let her lift or move things, but she could paint as well as he could, even if she couldn't bend down.

So that was how she'd come to have blue dyed fingers, clothes (she'd put her street clothes back on, minus the corset, as it didn't matter if they got dirty. Her bump was almost fully exposed, as of course she hadn't been pregnant then and she'd also been a lot skinnier so the clothes no longer fitted. Marius didn't seem to mind, stroking her exposed skin and even kissing it a couple of times), speckled hair and painted fingernails (she'd been bored whilst he was doing to bottom of the walls).

They'd changed their minds last-minute and instead were painting the walls white with little designs on them. Marius had spent who knows how long testing different painting styles, and he'd used the different shades of blue to paint an ocean around the bottom, which looked brilliant.

"I wish I could help with the furniture."

"We've been over this. You're supposed to be on bed rest, remember."

"Because of course I was going to succumb myself to that for a month."

He smiled, kissing her temple as he dipped his paintbrush back in the tin. "Worth a try."

Joly and Grantaire appeared at the doorway, wielding a wardrobe. "Where does this go?"

The couple put their paintbrushes down. "Bedroom. I'll come an help."

Marius wandered back outside to the large, close-top four-horse cart they'd rented. After who knows how long, they were finally moving in, adding their furniture that day.

Enjolras called through asking for help with the bed. That had been one thing they'd newly brought, as Marius' had been pretty small, just big enough for both of them. He'd been given another pay rise, and they'd bought a proper double bed, new mattress, duvet, everything. Éponine had been insistent they could afford one proper luxury, and Marius had rather happily agreed.

The three boys headed out to help him. Enjolras and Marius took the bed frame, whilst Joly and Grantaire followed with the mattress. Éponine shrugged to herself, picking up the remaining duvet, sheets and two pillows, following them through, resting a pillow on her bump.

It didn't take long for their bedroom to be complete. The bed was made, the wardrobe filled with their clothes and shoes, curtains hung up, a handmade cushion put in the window seat, two bedside tables complete with candles and a couple of mats. A rug at one end, next to the fireplace. A rocking chair in the corner. It looked exactly as they'd hoped, if not better.

Next up was the nursery. They already had the furniture, save for a comfy chair (and the shelf needed putting up),so just needed to arrange it. The hamper went by the window, as planned, and the crib on the left wall, a mobile having been attached. A chest of drawers placed opposite, filled with various baby clothes they'd brought and been given (Éponine had attempted sewing some, but butchered her finger and gotten thoroughly fed up before she'd even finished a sleeve).

Marius had packed a small suitcase with their baby things, and placed it in the corner, beginning to put up the shelf as Éponine watched.

Before too long, they'd set out what they needed on the shelf, and Éponine had carefully arranged the three cuddly toys in one end of the crib. "Perfect" Marius said, kissing her head and tucking an arm around her as they went to help where they could.

Whilst the boys had started moving in the furniture for the lounge, Éponine had bEen set the task of unpacking their plates, cutlery and other things of that kind for the kitchen. It not took her ten minutes to have everything neatly organised, sorted by kind and colour. She also gave the surface one last scrub to be definite it was clean, and wiped down the kitchen tiles too, making sure they were dry so nobody tripped.

When she walked back in to find her husband, the lounge was almost finished. The sofa and armchairs had been moved in, alongside their table, curtains, bookcase, cabinet, dining table plus chairs and oil lamps. The carpet had been spread out, and the walls had already been painted a light cream with one dark red wall, which they'd decided to keep.

"Not done too badly. I think you lot need a break, just the bathroom and the little things need doing" she said, walking straight over to Marius, who clasped her and in his. "Sandwiches, anybody?"

Soon enough they were sat around their dining table, tucking in to some cheese sandwiches courtesy of Éponine. Even though she wasn't what could be described as a good cook, she knew the basics, and had supplied them with cups of tea too.

Idle chatter flitted around the table as the five discussed what else needed doing. Marius and Éponine were going to unpack the remainder of their clothes, pictures, books, toiletries and so on. Joly needed to get home anyway, never wanting to leave Musichetta alone for more than a few hours (ever since Bossuet's death she'd been unusually nervous, and he was worried something had happened mentally. She'd already had panic attacks as a result of nightmares, and they were seeing a specialist in the area soon. Marius and Éponine had gone visiting several times to check she was alright, which she usually was. But as Éponine had pointed out, they didn't know what went on behind the scenes, even with 'Chetta, who was usually so together, so resilient.)

Enjolras and Grantaire were finishing moving the last of the furniture, the chair for the nursery, the bathroom cabinet, and a piano Marius had been given by his grandfather as a very begrudged wedding gift. Marius was still offended that he hadn't bothered to turn up, which in turn made Éponine feel annoyed at him, but they weren't refusing free furniture. Or at least Marius wasn't, she'd already tried to convince him otherwise. The main selling point had been when he mentioned they could teach their children to play, so she'd reluctantly agreed.

As they rose from the table and said goodbye to Joly, who was beginning to worry, the couple made their way over to a box marked 'lounge'. Inside was the books, cards, pictures, candles and other assorted items to place around the room.

Like before, the pictures were going on the bookshelf, having expanded since Cosette had first seen them. Now they had a professionally done picture of them on their wedding day, a sketch of Marius' father he'd found tucked away, a group drawing of all of them plus Azelma, and another picture of the two of them Grantaire had drawn for their six-month wedding anniversary, Éponine about a month pregnant and not yet showing. She was leaning against Marius who had his arm around her waist, both looking at the other and smiling as they walked through the marketplace, another spur-of-the-moment sketch rather than posed.

They'd also added a little row of seven candles, one for each of the deceased Amis and Gavroche, which were lit on the sixth of June and no other time to honour them. Usually Enjolras, Grantaire, Joly and Musichetta would be there, however Joly had decided not to take her in future should she have some kind of problem.

It took about half an hour for everything except their remaining clothing to be unpacked. Marius decided to have the small side cupboard in their chest of drawers for Éponine's corsets to go in (she'd tried to get rid of them, but he insisted they keep them should they attend anywhere formal) and another for his ties and cuff links. They sorted their remaining garments, Éponine smiling as she came across a deep red cotton shift. It had been the first dress he bought her, almost a couple of years ago during their visit to Spain. It still fit (or it did when she hadn't been pregnant) and it remained her favourite.

His suits were hung up alongside several shirts and pairs of trousers. Enjolras and Grantaire had left about five minutes ago, the furniture all moved in, and everything was perfect.

It took less than five minutes for them to be lying in their new bed, loving it and each other. Éponine was on her side, Marius carefully curled around her, arms around her bump and nose buried in her hair. Both missed their flat, but were happy in their new home already. Éponine could already feel herself beginning to fall asleep, despite it only being about seven o'clock. But as Marius gently started whispering what their future would be like with their children running around their new home, she couldn't help but slip off in to slumber, a small smile remaining on her face as he gently turned her near-sleeping head to give her a quick goodnight kiss.


	28. Massage

**A/N: Hello from Spain! :D There is wifi but it's not great, so any prompts I don't get out on the day (I'm almost definitely back to daily updates now) will be posted as a double the next day. Weather is amazing. But there are crying babies everywhere and it's so annoying. Oh well. There's a pool like ten metres away so I'm off there when I've finished this. Oh, and do check out Hugo High, no updates for a couple of weeks whilst Rainbow-Bunnii is away but I'm pleased with it, and the Meponine fluff shows hints of beginning (still only in friendship but maybe somethin' more later on ;) )**

**Enjoy!**

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**Prompt: Imagine Person A suffering from pregnancy back pain and Person B offering to massage their back for them.**

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Éponine groaned.

The child was due in about a week, and the back pains had reached their worst.

Marius had been given a month of paternity leave, which he was over the moon about, meaning he could spend those first few precious weeks with their newborn once he or she came. Éponine was grateful too, but she was finding it hard to do anything but sleep (and even then she had to sleep on her back, which sent her muscles into a frenzy the next morning) as her back was so bad.

She was lying on her side (which was incredibly uncomfortable as her bump was getting in the way) with Marius still sleeping next to her. It was early, the sun not yet risen. According to his watch, it was thirteen minutes past five in the morning, which meant she'd slept about four hours.

Brilliant.

She groaned again as her back let out a particularly nasty ache, before hearing Marius shuffle next to her, and sighing. She'd woken him. "'Ponine?"

"Go to sleep, it's five in the morning."

"I could say the same thing, love. What's the matter? I heard you groan, like you were in pain. It's not the baby, is it?"

"No, just my back. It's a bit sore."

He sat up beside her, dipping down to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. "Maybe if you walk around it'll help?"

She sat up, leaning against the headboard of their bed. "Maybe."

She did anyway, Marius helping her up and wrapping an arm around her waist, lighting a few candles as they went. They were settled in to their new house by now, everything painted, scrubbed and organised, as they walked through to the lounge.

"Any better?"

She stopped, arching her back as the bone clicked. "A little, but not much."

He sighed. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's worth it."

"Only a week to go."

She nodded, smiling as he kissed her temple. "Why don't we sit on the sofa for a bit? Perhaps sitting in a proper sitting position will help."

"Worth a try."

So they settled themselves on the sofa, Marius' arm remaining around her waist as she leaned her head on his shoulder, kissing her head a couple of times. "Working?" he asked after about ten minutes.

"Not really. I could go back to sleep."

"We're up now, may as well stay that way. I could give it a massage?"

"You know how to give back massages?"

"Kind of. As you know, I can do shoulders, and how different are they, really?"

"Good point. Might as well try it then.

As she settled herself between his legs, he lifted the back of her nightshirt and began to gently knead her lower back, where she said the pain was worst. She let out a low moan, relaxing against him. "Don't stop, this is brilliant."

He leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. "I'll assume it's working then?"

"Shut up and massage on."

He chuckled, moving his hands to slightly higher. She smiled as his fingers dug in to her aching skin, leaning in to his touch. "Bit lower?"

He obliged, moving back to slightly lower than where he'd started, massaging again. She couldn't contain the grin as two months worth of aches and pains melted away. "God, do I love you" she said, causing another chuckle. "Love you too, my bed-ridden Éponine" he replied, massaging slightly further to the left.

About an hour later Éponine was feeling better than she had in who knows how long, leaning back against Marius' chest. He was tracing circles on her bump, kissing her hair. "In a week you won't have this anymore."

"Nope, we'll have the upgraded version instead" she said, causing a smile. "We will. We never did consider names, did we?"

"Hmm. Well, for a girl I've always liked Charlotte, Samantha, Monique, Danielle and Alexandra, and for a boy, Victor, Jaqcues and Jean."

"I like them all, although Charlotte, Samantha and Victor in particular. My thoughts were Alice, Marie, Annalise, Eliza or Geneviève for a girl, and Louis, Pierre, William, Gustave and Gabriel for a boy."

"Well, if it's a girl then shall we go with Charlotte? We can always shorten it to Lottie too."

"Marius, Éponine and Charlotte. I like it. And if it's a boy?"

"Up to you."

"Okay, how about Jean-Louis? We both get an input then."

"Sounds good. And if it's a girl then we could have Samantha as her middle name."

"Sounds perfect."

Éponine turned her head around to kiss him. "It doesn't seem real, that in a week were going to be holding little Charlotte Samantha or Jean-Louis after so long."

He smiled, kissing her forehead as she turned around again. "It doesn't, does it?"

"I can't wait."

"Me neither. Joly agreed that you'd be better off giving birth in a hospital, as in the hopefully very unlikely chance something does go wrong, you're already in the best place for it."

She nodded. "You'll stay with me though, won't you?"

"They can threaten me with a spears and a pickaxe, the only place I'll be is the chair by your beside, no matter what."

Éponine smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too. Now go to sleep, it's only 6AM."

She nodded, turning her head to one side on his chest. "If my back is bad in the morning can you massage it again?"

"Of course. Promise."

She smiled once more before closing her eyes, slipping silently in to sleep as his other hand came to rest on her heavily pregnant stomach.


	29. New Arrival

**A/N: And here it is. My medical knowledge is beyond basic, I don't know a thing, so haven't gone in to that much detail (plus I'm a bit squeamish). So...yeah. I know this could probably have been longer, but as I said, I know next to nothing about the birthing process and have learned everything off barely-watched episodes of Casualty, so I didn't expect it to be that technical.**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP giving birth to their first child.**

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Marius tightened his grip on his wife's hand as she let out yet another cry of pain.

After quite possibly the longest week of either of their lives, Éponine had gone in to labour at half past two in the morning on October 23rd. She'd been absolutely terrified to wake up to find there was a pool of wetness around her legs, thinking she'd wet herself before realising it was actually her waters breaking. Marius had immediately leaped up and grabbed a small suitcase containing some home comforts and a change of clothes for them both, before doing his best to get her as quickly to the carriage as possible, helped by Joly who'd been staying overnight.

They'd rented it earlier that day, and thank God they had. He spread a towel down on her seat as Joly climbed in to the drivers seat, setting off in direction of the hospital, where the birth was scheduled. Éponine was getting her contractions fairly frequently, each more painful than the last as she let out a whimper of pain.

Marius had held her closely and kept her hair out of her face, wiping her forehead with a damp cloth he'd picked up. It was tearing him apart to see her in such pain; he felt as if it were worse than the barricades for her. He doubted it was far from the truth.

They'd packed their suitcase two days ago. It contained a soft blanket given to them by Cosette for when their newborn arrived, Éponine's favourite nightshirt in case she had to stay in longer, a small glass bottle of water and a flannel, some baby clothes they'd bought with the girls, and one of his old shirts, so that Éponine had something that smelled like home. She'd never admit it, but she was scared of what was to come, scared something would go wrong with her or their child, or both. He knew this and had slipped it in, wanting her to have something comforting besides him.

Luckily they lived not five minutes away from the nearest hospital, and Joly pulled the carriage to a rather sharp stop. Éponine let out a cry of pain as another fiercer contraction rolled through her, Marius kissing her head and stroking her hair, slightly damp with sweat.

He'd picked her up, Joly carrying the suitcase as they'd been shown through to a private maternity ward. They'd insisted on going private, knowing Éponine wouldn't want to share a room with somebody during such a private, personal time. Neither did Marius. It wasn't something you wanted to share with strangers.

The nurse had asked Joly several questions. When her waters had broken, how often the contractions were coming. Marius had remained silent, doing everything he could to keep Éponine as comfortable as possible, kissing her sweat-covered brow and clutching on to her hand tightly. She squeezed his every time a contraction came, which was almost every three minutes by that point.

She'd gone very red at one point, which Marius could not deny had worried him. Apart from when he could make her blush, she never went red. Perhaps it was the exertion. The fear he had of something going wrong, the fear of losing one or both of them was too great to describe. He'd be broken without his wife, and destroyed without their child. He simply could not afford to lose either, especially with the loss that had filled their lives already. She had already risked her life to save another, and he was not going to let things get that serious again.

He'd asked a doctor to check her over, and to the mass relief of the couple, he pronounced she was fit and healthy, the abnormal flushing due to the pressure and pain she was in. He said the birth could take as long as eight hours, as it usually did with first pregnancies, but not to worry as things were progressing normally.

Éponine had let out a groan. "Can't-wait-eight-hours" she'd gasped as another wave of pain swept though her. "Has-to-be-quicker" she'd said, trying to slow her breathing and failing drastically. Marius had wrapped his arms around her briefly, kissing the end of her nose. "I know you can do this. You're strong, the strongest person I know. Come on, 'Ponine" he'd said to her, looking straight in to her gold-brown eyes. She'd nodded, tight-lipped, and tried to stay calm.

Just over an hour later, the baby was coming.

Their first indication had been when Éponine let out a hollow cry of pure agony. Marius knew it wasn't pain-free, but he hadn't expected things to be quite that bad. He felt like crying, seeing her so weak, so pained, but knew it was his turn to be the strong one. He couldn't be the one to let pain beat him, if he gave up, so might she. And he couldn't let that happen, no matter what the circumstances.

A nurse had checked "down below" as Marius called it (despite being French, he was very British about those matters, so to speak) and told her to push. She did, letting out another cry of pain and leaning weakly against her pillow and Marius' arm, which had found its way around her shoulders in support.

"Push, Madame, harder" the nurse had said, to which Éponine had grunted slightly. "I'll push you in a minute" she'd muttered through gritted teeth. Marius would have chuckled had his wife not been in such pain.

He'd had to sit for another two hours through her tormented cries, clinging on to her hand and wiping her sweat-coated forehead, until finally, finally, the baby was out.

She took a huge breath and a sigh, flopping back against the pillows as they heard another cry pierce the air. The cry of their child.

The nurse had snipped the cord and given the baby a quick wipe to get rid of the blood, before wrapping them up in the blanket provided and placing the bundle on Éponine's chest, her arms coming to wrap around and provide support.

"That birth was far quicker than we expected. You now have a daughter" Joly told them quietly, stepping back with the other medical staff to allow the couple some time.

Marius helped Éponine sit up properly, looking at the bundle in her arms. "My God, she's beautiful" he whispered reverently, leaning down to kiss his new child's forehead. "She looks like you already" he added stroking the baby's cheek with his thumb.

"She's so tiny" Éponine said in a slightly hoarse voice. Marius reached in to their suitcase and brought out the water bottle, placing it at her lips as she had a drink, letting the cool liquid run through her. "I needed that".

"I know you did, my darling, darling wife. I can't imagine the pain you just went through. But it's over now, and my God was it worth it."

He looked down to find her eyes filled with tears. The moment was something that could not be relived, the pure, unadulterated bliss they both felt. Éponine extended a finger to stroke down the cheek of their daughter, much like Marius did, and could not hold back her tears of joy as the infant's hand clutched her finger tightly, eyes remaining closed.

She looked up at her husband, lip trembling slightly. He stroked her face and leaned down to kiss her softly and gently, one hand coming to rest on hers, supporting their child. "Would you like to know her weight? I promise you it will take three minute, if that" a nurse had asked quietly, to which they both nodded.

Whilst their daughter was being weighed, Marius had slipped on to the bed next to Éponine and gently pulled her in to a hug, careful not to jolt her. "My beautiful, darling wife" he'd whispered to her, kissing her head and making her smile. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Absolutely exhausted but I'm okay."

He nodded, kissing her temple. "Rest now, dear Éponine. You've more than deserved it."

She rested her head on his chest, letting her eyes close but not falling asleep, simply relaxing after the long hours. "I love you, Marius. So, so much."

"And I love you, my darling."

They'd sat like that for a couple of minutes, Marius whispering sweet nothings in her ear, until Joly returned with their child.

"Eight pounds exactly" he'd said, holding the bundle until Éponine was sat up, before placing her back in her arms.

"Welcome to the world, Charlotte Samantha Pontmercy" Éponine had said quietly, kissing their daughter's nose lightly. Charlotte was already asleep, her petite chest rising and falling. "May I?" Marius asked, and Éponine immediately nodded, realising Marius had not yet had a chance to hold her.

She gently transferred little Lottie (as they'd already decided could be a nickname) to her husband, leaning her own head against his shoulder. "Hush, my dear Éponine. We're here, you need to rest" he'd said gently, kissing her once more on the lips as he placed an arm around her slim shoulders. She snuggled closer to him and Charlotte and allowed her eyes to close, falling asleep in minutes.

Marius looked down at the little bundle of joy in his arms. She looks so like Éponine, he thought happily. It was true, their daughter had Éponine's eyes, the dark brown with flecks of gold (although he couldn't currently see them, as her small eyelids were closed). Her skin was pale, much like his. It would be interesting to see who's hair she'd inherited, as he knew it wouldn't grow properly for at least another month.

Looking down at his sleeping wife, he kissed her head tenderly. "You did it, 'Ponine. Just like I knew you could" he whispered, before closing his own eyes and joining his family in sleep.


	30. Home

**A/N: Hello there. If anybody has any prompts involving the two of them and their child (eek!) then please let me know! :)**

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**Also, yes I do know that all babies are born with blue eyes, but hey, creative licence card now being played. And to the guest who asked me about the names, Charlotte came from one of my friends (they don't even read this so why I asked I don't know XD) and Samantha was suggested by NotEvilNessa, and I chose it because my personal favourite Éponine is Samantha Barks :) I've already chosen the names for their future child/children from the ones you guys gave, though if anybody does have any then don't be afraid to submit a bit later on, my mind is subject to changing ;)**

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**Oh, and I have no clue what Marius' relationship with his mother was, so for the sake of this I'm gonna say she died when he was about two years old, even though that's probably not the case.**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP taking their child home for the first time.**

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Marius sighed contentedly.

Éponine had lost a little more blood than they'd expected and had had to stay in the hospital for three more days. Marius had been beside himself with worry, despite Joly telling him over over again that it wasn't serious and she just needed rest. He'd insisted on staying with her, keeping Lottie with them at all times. Éponine was able to feed her, as Joly said, the hospital was just a precaution.

Upon seeing Éponine feeding their child herself, Marius had been a bit uncomfortable, much to her despair. "It's natural, for heavens sake. Your mother did it to you, your grandmother did it to your mother, even your grandfather was breastfed at some point" she would tell him, rolling her eyes but smiling all the same. "Really didn't need reminding where my grandfather is concerned" he replied, pulling a face and averting his eyes as normal.

Once Lottie had been fed and changed, the doctors would check Éponine's pulse and check whether Marius was staying or not (which he always did). He usually did Lottie's burping as Éponine was not allowed to get out of bed without help, and then would place the child back in Éponine's arms and perch on the bed next to her, kissing her hair. It was nice to be able to hold her again, without having to worry about putting too much pressure on her bump, or it getting in the way.

"I wonder who she'll look most like?"

"Well, she's got your eyes already, I suppose it's a case of who's hair she gets" Marius replied, placing their daughter back in her provided crib next to the bed, and taking Éponine properly in his arms. She was sitting on him, his arms wrapped around her waist and his nose buried in her hair. "You're not in any pain, are you?"

"No. I'm still tired and a bit achey, but there's no real pain. Honest."

He smiled, kissing her temple. "Glad to hear it. You sounded in such agony giving birth to her, I can't help worrying."

"I know you can't. It's quite sweet actually" she confessed, shuffling slightly so that she was face down on top of him, leaning her head on his chest. "I've missed this" she sighed, feeling his arms wrap themselves around her frame once more. "I've really missed this" she added, before closing her eyes, and falling asleep. It had been a long time since she'd been able to fall asleep chest-to-chest with him, and she let out a long, happy sigh as she did.

On the fourth day however, she'd been allowed out, and, to their delight, so was Lottie. Marius had checked Éponine was completely fine, before handing the bundle containing their daughter to her, placing an arm around her waist, and picking up their suitcase, heading for the carriage.

It took only five minutes for them to get home. They were both feeling excited at introducing their daughter to her home for the first time, even if she was already sleeping. The mere sight of having the infant in the nursery they'd so carefully prepared was more than enough, whether she took in her surroundings or not.

Realising with a slight pang of guilt that she'd been the one to do almost everything so far, she offered Marius their child for a bit, which he gladly accepted. They headed straight through to the nursery, and Éponine watched tenderly as he placed her in their crib, gently tucking the blankets around her as she slept. Her soft side had really come out with the birth of their daughter, and she couldn't deny she rather liked it. She'd be a lot more worried if she wasn't feeling so fond and affectionate.

Leaning down to kiss their daughter's forehead, Marius wound an arm around her waist as she leaned her head against his shoulder, kissing her head. "She's beautiful" he whispered, to which she nodded. "She really, really is."

Deciding to wait until she'd woken up naturally, they moved the armchair closer to the crib, and settled themselves on it, Éponine on top of Marius as it was only designed for one person. Tucking her head under his chin, the two of them watched in content silence as Lottie shuffled slightly in her sleep. "Already a restless sleeper, got that from you" Marius said quietly, chuckling. He was a bit worried at the silence from his wife, until he realised that she too had fallen asleep.

About three hours later, Lottie woke up, and started crying, effectively awaking Éponine. "She wants feeding" she said a little groggily, standing up and picking the child up, unbuttoning the top of her dress and letting her daughter have her feed.

Marius busied himself with getting out a burping cloth. They seemed to have settled in to their new roles as parents fairly quickly, which came as a surprise as neither had that much experience with babies. Not that he was complaining, realising that it was good they didn't need to constantly ask Éponine's mother for advice.

Once Lottie had been fed, burped and changed, she seemed to fall asleep again almost immediately. "I'd like to say I hope this lasts, but I doubt it. If she's anything like Azelma was then she'll be a bit of a screamer" Éponine said with a smile, tucking the blankets around her and standing up. "It still seems surreal. I hope we can keep doing a good job when she gets older."

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

"I hope so."

Marius tilted his head down to kiss her, placing a hand between her shoulder blades and the other at the base of her spine. Her arms found their way around his neck as she returned his embrace, and when they parted, she simply leaned her head on his chest as he drew her impossibly closer, relishing in the feeling of being hugged so lovingly, with their child sleeping just feet away.


	31. Lack of Sleep

**A/N: Hello lovely people. Any prompts I'm very grateful for :) Got one or two more lined up so any involving Lottie at about five months or older would be great! Also gonna attempt to update Madness tonight, writers block has been horrendous so if there's no update then I've temporarily given up XD**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP being woken up in the middle of the night by their baby crying. Person A is usually the one to take care of the child during the night but Person B can see how tired they are and kisses their forehead before telling them to go back to sleep and getting up to take care of the baby.**

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Éponine yawned.

Just as she predicted, Lottie had turned out to be quite the screamer. She'd either be absolutely silent or yelling her little head off, demanding attention. Neither her or Marius regretted anything, not even for a second, but the noise was taking some getting used to for both of them.

She was a month old now, and they could see tiny tufts of hair growing. They looked like Marius' colour, though there wasn't much there to judge, so they couldn't be sure. Éponine hoped their daughter had his hair, whilst it was nice to see their offspring with her eyes, and her build, she wanted some of his features too. She'd acquired Marius' freckles already, leaving them to wonder if she might end up being a redhead. Both Éponine's mother and Marius' father were redheads, so it was a possibility, though it looked more like Marius' brown.

They'd managed to get her settled down for the night (at last, after about half an hour) and whilst Marius wasn't too tired, she was absolutely exhausted, having not slept properly in weeks. She didn't mind getting up to attend to their daughter, but was silently hoping for just one night where she could sleep solidly until the sunrise. The effects of being up all night were taking their toll, she'd already had a couple of nasty migraines and there were dark circles under her eyes. But it was more than worth it.

She was sitting in bed shortly after Lottie had gone to sleep, and could hear Marius bustling about, assuming he was tidying up. Lifting the front of her nightgown, she looked down at her now-flat-again stomach. It hadn't taken long for her skin to go back to its original places, after having being stretched so much during her pregnancy, though it was still odd to be missing the bump. Although it did mean her and Marius could be more affectionate, being able to hug each other properly, and she could curl herself up next to (and sometimes on) him again. Always a positive.

Just as she was about to give up on Marius and go to sleep, he appeared at the doorway with two steaming mugs in his hand. "Thought you could do with something" he said quietly, handing her a cup of hot chocolate. She smiled up at him, tilting her head to kiss him. "Thanks. I swear Gavroche was easier to take care of. But I don't mind."

"Well, we all need a little rest sometimes."

"I suppose."

He changed in to his night things and slipped under the duvet next to her. "Are you sure you don't want to sleep now?"

"I'd rather have time with you, to be perfectly honest."

He smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "If you're sure" he said, tucking an arm around her waist as she took a sip of her drink, letting the hot liquid run through her. The nights were getting increasingly cold as December drew nearer and nearer, they'd already switched to winter blankets for Lottie.

They sat there in a comfortable silence, each enjoying being with the other, until both mugs were drained. Marius leaned over to blow his candle out (they always kept one burning to avoid the trouble of locating the matches during the night) as Éponine shuffled down, laying her head on the pillow across from him.

He shuffled down to meet her gaze, gently kissing the end of her nose, causing a smile. She shuffled down further as he rolled on to his back, leaning her head on his chest as his arms came to wrap around her waist. She had one arm lying across his stomach, the other behind her head. He kissed her forehead gently, then her temple, then her head, feeling her begin to slip in to sleep already.

"Night, Éponine. Sleep well, love."

"Whilst I can, anyway. You too. Love you" she mumbled, fatigue already claiming her.

"Love you too" he replied softly, kissing her head once more as the two of them slipped off in to slumber.

About half past two that morning, Lottie had awoken. She gave a little gurgle, as if deciding whether she wanted to be seen or not, before deciding she did, and began to cry loudly.

Éponine awoke with a sigh.

She turned to get up, before feeling Marius' hand on her shoulder. "Go back to sleep, let me."

"Don't be daft, you've got work in the morning."

"And?"

"You need to be awake for that."

"'Ponine, if you're not careful you'll get even more sleep-deprived than you already are. You could get ill. Please, rest."

"What if she wants feeding?"

"Then I'll bring her through. For now, sleep. For me if not for yourself."

She sighed, giving him a quick peck on the lips before lying back down. "I don't deserve you" she said, as he gently stroked her cheek. "On the contrary, I don't deserve you. Now sleep, as I said, you'll make yourself ill" he said, tracing the dark circles under her eyes, and kissing her forehead tenderly.

She did, closing her eyes again as Marius got up to attend to their daughter. He set the candle by her crib and picked her up. "Ssh, sweetheart" he said, gently rocking her back and forth. Lottie remained noisy, and he sighed, knowing she wanted to be fed, though giving it another twenty minutes to try and allow Éponine more time to sleep.

"I'm so sorry" he said to his wife, helping her sit up and undoing the buttons at the top of her nightgown. "Don't be" she replied, taking their daughter and letting her have her desired feed. "Azelma was less trouble than you, missy, and she never stopped" she said lightly, kissing her forehead.

When at last Lottie decided she was okay, she promptly fell asleep. "Alright for her" Éponine muttered, though you could tell by her voice she didn't mean it. Re-fastening her nightgown she slipped back underneath the duvet as Marius placed the infant back in her crib.

Padding quietly back through to Éponine, he took her in his arms. "Go to sleep" he said softly, kissing her cheek. "You need it."

"No more than you."

"I can survive. You're always insisting on losing sleep to avoid making me drowsy for work, so the least I can do is pay you back for that."

He felt her nod sleepily as she began to fall asleep once more. Tightening his arms around her, he kissed her temple, before resting his head on top of hers and joining her in sleep.


	32. Joly & Musichetta

**A/N: Hellooooooooo :D God, the wifi here is bloody awful. Took me twelve attempts and about fifteen minutes trust to upload the doc for Madness. But I digress.**

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**Prompt (thank you NotEvilNessa, I was previously gonna use another but thought it was too early and this seemed to work, so hope you like it): Joly comes for a visit and Charlotte spits-up on him... Joly goes crazy.**

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"Éponine, they'll be here in five minutes."

"Which is why I'm trying to get this done!"

"It's only Joly and Musichetta, they won't mind if a kitchen counter isn't spotless."

"They might not, but I will."

Marius sighed, walking back through to where Lottie was sleeping. She was two months old now, and Joly had finally found a time to visit with Musichetta, her having a day off,from her dancing. She'd definitely got his hair, a medium-brown, and tiny little tufts could be be seen, no more than perhaps a centimetre long.

They heard a knock on the door, and he stood up, following Éponine through. Joly and Musichetta were standing on the other side, both smiling. After seeing a specialist over Musichetta's panic attack-inducing nightmares, they'd learned she was fine, that it was her nightmares about Bossuet's death causing them (though she was sleeping considerably less, and Joly had had to give her anaesthetics a couple of times to ensure she actually did sleep).

Nevertheless she looked cheerful, kissing Éponine on both cheeks and grinning at Marius. It didn't take long for the four to be seated around the table, talking about various events, particularly Musichetta's work, as she'd decided to take on dancing full-time.

"When's your next performance?"

"In a month. They decided to go with the tale of Swan Lake, a little overused but beautiful nonetheless."

"I'm sure it'll be brilliant. Where about?"

"In His Majesty's Theatre, right on the outskirts of Paris."

Éponine nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "So" Joly cut in. "When can we see the little sweetheart herself?"

Marius glanced at Éponine, who nodded. "I'll get her."

Luckily for all of them, Lottie didn't need to be awakened, or she'd have screamed the house down. She'd been awake for a while, and was glad to see her mother. Éponine kissed her daughter's forehead, gently picking her up and letting her have a feed to avoid having to do so in front of the others. She'd be on the bottle soon, so it wouldn't be much longer that Marius had to feel uncomfortable for (he'd still not been convinced, though hadn't complained).

Checking the infant was okay, she carried her through, met by a loud 'aww!' coming from Musichetta who looked at the baby with a tender gaze. "Little Charlotte Samantha" she said, as Éponine very carefully handed her the bundle.

"Oh Joly, look at her, isn't she gorgeous?" Musichetta crooned, touching Lottie's cheek. She looked up at her with those brown eyes, making her gasp a little. "She's got your eyes already" she told Éponine, who nodded, smiling.

Joly gently placed a hand on his girlfriends shoulder, who leaned against him. Marius' arm had wound its way around Éponine's waist, as the two couples watched Lottie, who let out a tiny yawn, causing Musichetta to let out another "aww".

"May I?"

Éponine and Marius looked up at Joly. "Of course" they said in unison, smiling.

Musichetta carefully handed him the child, hoping to hold her again before they left, and he took her carefully. "Oh, she is cute" he said with a gentler smile than his usual. He gently stroked down her cheek, looking at her with a tender expression.

Well, until Lottie threw up on him.

Musichetta swiftly and gently took her back before Joly dropped her, having recoiled rather violently. His expression was something that couldn't be re-seen, pure horror spreading across his features. "She...she...she _vomited_! On _me_! _Germs_! Germs, bacteria, _everywhere_!"

"She's perfectly clean, she's had a bath" Éponine said, having to bury her head in Marius' shoulder to avoid breaking out in to a fit of laughter. Joly was pathetically flapping his hands about (as if that would do anything) and repeating something that sounded like 'ew, ew, ew' over and over. They could see Musichetta was struggling not to laugh too as she placed a hand on his shoulder blades.

"DON'T TOUCH ME, I MIGHT BE INFECTED!" he shrieked, making her step back. "I hardly think so, it's just a bit of baby sick. She's thrown up on Marius several times and he's nice and healthy" Éponine told him through stifled giggles, taking Lottie from Musichetta and placing her back in her crib, followed by Marius. All that could be heard as they disappeared was a cry of "WHAT IF I ATTRACT PNEUMONIA FROM THIS?!" coming from a rather over-reacting Joly.

Before they went back through, Éponine had to bury her face in his chest with her laugher. Marius found her laugh more amusing than the situation, the hearty cackle of pure happiness that leaked out of her. He loved her laugh. Chucking, he placed his arms around her, holding her gently whilst she let out her chuckles, and occasionally, snorts.

Once she'd managed to compose herself, he kissed her quickly. They walked back to where Joly was dabbing at himself with a tea towel, Musichetta giggling in to her hand behind him. Despite being used to this, she couldn't deny his 'moments' were rather entertaining.

Once Joly had disinfected himself using Éponine's surface cleaner, and removed his waistcoat, Marius made him a cup of tea. "She's cute and all that but I think 'Chetta can do he holding until she gets a little older. I could have gotten some bacteria on me" Joly said wearily.

"For someone who studies medicine and works in hospital, you're a bit of an over-reactor. A little baby sick never killed anybody. If you and 'Chetta ever hope to have children, you'll have to get used to it. Oh, and for the record, people carry six hundred types of bacteria in their stomachs, a little more won't hurt" Éponine told him airily, handing him the tea Marius had made.

Musichetta was leaning her head against his shoulder, reaching up to whisper something in his ear. He nodded.

"Well, that may not be too far away, as Musichetta and I are engaged."

Éponine's face broke in to a grin as she practically flew at her friend, hugging her tightly. "Congratulations!" she gasped, as Musichetta laughed. Marius gave Joly a clap on the back, pleased. "Set a date? What are you wearing? Can we come? Where's the venue?" Éponine gabbled, alongside several other rushed questions.

"Calm down, you" Marius said with a chuckle, kissing his wife's cheek. She drew a breath, grin never faltering.

"We think early July would be best. It was Bossuet's favourite month. We know he'd have wanted us to be happy, so that's what we're doing. It's odd without him, but I think we're coping."

Éponine nodded. "Well, we'll be there, if of course you would like us to be."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course we do! I was actually wondering if you and Azelma would be willing to be my bridesmaids, if I'm honest."

Éponine let out a small squeal, hugging her again. "We'd love to!"

"And Marius, if you'd be willing to be my best man, then..."

Marius grinned broadly at Joly. "Of course."

"We'd also like it if Cosette could come."

Éponine nodded. "I'll let her know, she can keep an eye on Lottie, I'm sure."

They exchanged words for a while, conversing about the unexpected but very pleasant topic, before realising the time. "Well, we'd best be off. We'll drop by again soon to discuss details" Musichetta said as they exited the door.

"As long as Lottie doesn't vomit on me again, I'm all for it" Joly replied, as Musichetta put Bossuet's old hat back on, bidding the couple a goodnight and exiting.

Marius flopped down on the sofa, extending an arm for Éponine to tuck herself under, which she happily did, letting her head rest on his chest as he kissed her hairline. "Poor Joly" he said, unable to prevent a chuckle.

"I know. But he is rather entertaining when he gets going, you must admit."

He nodded, kissing her head. "Well, lets make sure Lottie doesn't repeat her little act."

"Lets do that indeed" Éponine replied, tilting her head up to kiss him before putting her legs up on the sofa and closing her eyes, simply relaxing after what had been a long but decidedly very good day.

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**A/N: I would just like to put a quick note saying here: I do ***not*** have Joly as a sufferer of hypochondria here. As in, I don't write him as actually having it as a medical condition. If he did, I would not be writing about it, as I am fully aware that it is a serious condition and, I believe, possibly linked to a form of anxiety. I am not trying to mock it, or ridicule it. In my writing, he does not suffer from hypochondria, nor germophobia, nor any other type of illness linked or similar to one of these. If this chapter ever offends anybody who does suffer it then please, please tell me and I will be more than happy to take it down. Thanks.**


	33. Illness

**A/N: Good morning/afternoon/evening/night to you all. I'm very tired and very tempted by the pool in front of me, that can wait :) And I'm relying entirely on the Internet for this one, as I know nothing about pneumonia :(**

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**Prompt (thank you Eponine Jondrette, and I'm very sorry it took so long to get to yours. I was planning to have this when she was pregnant but when my musical theatre teacher was pregnant and got mildly ill she was in hospital, and my medical knowledge is crap, so it could have gone really badly): Imagine Éponine getting really ill.**

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"'Ponine? Éponine, can you hear me?"

Éponine groaned, her head pounding. She coughed weakly, and her chest gave her a fierce and tight pain as she did, causing her to groan once more. Every inch of her ached, despite having done almost nothing save tend to Charlotte, and her chest was throbbing painfully in the aftermath of that one tiny cough.

"'Ponine?"

"At the risk of sounding like Joly, don't come near me, I think I'm ill."

Marius looked worried. He gently pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, and found her temperature was sky-high, higher even. She kept shaking too in small periods, despite the roaring fire in the fireplace and the duvet, and he could see (and feel) a sheen of sweat coating her. She didn't look much better either.

She was almost deathly pale, lips and cheeks practically grey. Her breathing was laboured, as if it hurt, which it did. Marius could see this was worse than the illness she'd had before she was pregnant with Charlotte, much worse. He could only hope her immune system was strong enough to fight it off.

"Stay there, I'm fetching Joly."

"No, no need-" she was cut of by a fit of violent coughing, phlegm coming up which she had to discreetly spit out in to a tissue. "-I'll be fine, just need sleep."

Marius walked around to where she lay, kneeling on the floor next to her. "Éponine, sleep won't cure this. I don't want you getting any worse, you're already sick. Don't move, okay?"

She sighed, closing her eyes and giving a weak nod. He kissed her fevered forehead, brushing her hair back. "I'll be quick, I promise" he told her, getting up, running down to rent out a carriage, and heading to Joly's.

Éponine tried to sleep as Marius had suggested, but it was no good. The coughs were getting worse, her chest stinging with each one. Her head felt as if it were being hammered, burning almost, even when she lay still. And to top it all off, Lottie started crying.

She was on the bottle now, which was a relief, as Éponine had no desire to pass on whatever she had to the infant. Staggering to the kitchen, adamant the child was more important than her health, and taking about ten minutes whilst feeling exceptionally guilty at her daughter's cries, she managed to prepare a bottle. Making her way slowly back to the nursery, she held it whilst her daughter had her feed, not picking her up for fear of dropping her.

Once she was finished, Éponine placed the bottle back on the shelf, and, with the intention of going back to bed, began walking. She got perhaps half a metre before the world went dark, and she fainted.

True to his word, Marius returned perhaps ten minutes later with Joly. "Éponine!" he called, worried when there was no response. Usually she would give some indication she was there, however small. They passed the nursery, not noticing her, and headed for the bedroom.

"Oh God, 'Ponine" Marius muttered when he saw their empty bed. Doubling back, they headed through to the nursery, and he let out a small gasp when he saw her. Kneeling by his wife's body, he stroked her hair, rolling her on to her back. The relief he felt upon seeing she was alive and just fainted simply could not be put in to words as he planted a lingering kiss between her eyes. "Don't do that to me" he said, leaning his forehead against hers for a minute.

Picking her up, he gently carried her back through to their bedroom, after checking Lottie was fine. Joly told him to leave, which he grudgingly obeyed, not wanting to make things worse, and resorted to pacing up and down their hallway, a habit of his when he was feeling particularly stressed or worried.

Éponine woke up halfway through Joly's examination, and almost screamed, had her head not troubled her so. "What-" she coughed "-the bloody hell-" another cough "-are you doing?"

"Checking you over. Shouldn't have been walking about."

"If you think-" a fierce fit of coughing overcame her -that I'm going to ignore my daughter's cries-" a stray cough "-then you can take your examinations and shove them up your-" a very well timed cough prevented her finishing that sentence. She groaned, hand flitting to her chest as another wave of pain came from it.

"Looks like pneumonia to me. I'll get Marius."

Éponine sighed, letting her head sink in to her pillow. Why was it always her that got ill? True, from her street days her immune system was rather weak, but she'd always thought her time at the inn had countered that. Though her mother wasn't really one for healthy eating, so perhaps not.

Marius appeared about three minutes later, a worried expression fixed on is features. "'Ponine" he said softly, sitting next to her and taking her hand. "Joly thinks you need to go to hospital. He says it's quite severe and that home treatment isn't really an option."

"How long for?"

"Well, his prediction is two weeks, but we're not sure."

She nodded, coughing yet again. "If it gets me better then do what you want" she told him. "I feel sick" she added, and Marius sprinted through to the kitchen to get a bowl and a cloth.

Joly must have thought he looked insane as he sprinted back through holding the items. He got there just in time as Éponine began to throw up, holding her hair back and stroking between her shoulder blades, tracing circles and shapes, writing her name with his finger as he did. It took several minutes for her to finish, despite not having eaten since the previous evening, Marius not leaving her side. When she'd finally stopped, he gently wiped around her mouth with a cloth and telling her he'd be back shortly.

After he'd emptied and cleaned the bowl, they decided it was time to get her to the hospital. Marius packed a little suitcase for her, including her clothes, nightgown, some of his clothes as he had no intention of leaving her, and a few home comforts. Lottie would be staying with Musichetta, who had a month off after her performance, as Joly was still working, and he'd packed a separate suitcase for her. Her cot wasn't very portable but her hamper was, and it was fine for her to sleep in, so they took that.

With Joly carrying their suitcases, Marius gently scooped Éponine up, sitting her on his lap to make room. They dropped Lottie off first to a concerned Musichetta, who gave Éponine her best wishes, before stopping at the hospital.

Joly said something to e receptionist, who nodded. "She's got a private ward, I pulled a few strings. Come on."

Before too long Éponine was in her room, and Joly had managed to get an extra bed for Marius to stay in, having worked there for quite a while. Marius had had to leave the room whilst the nurses got her settled, and felt near to tears when he came back to find Éponine hooked up on a drip.

"It's necessary" Joly had said. Marius said nothing, gently taking Éponine in his arms and being careful not to jolt her. Joly injected something in to her wrist, ensuring sleep and helping boost her immune system as best the medicine available would allow them.

"I'll check on her in an hour" he said, closing the door behind him. Marius sighed.

"Éponine Pontmercy, what am I going to do with you?"

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**A/N: Part two (and maybe three, not sure yet) will be up tomorrow. Also I finally updated Madness, so please check it out!**


	34. Developments

**A/N: Hello there. Sorry for the delay, things are hectic and exhausting (apart from Thursday when I went to see Phantom of the Opera in London. Sofia Escobar is such an incredible Christine, I know she gets a bit of hate but she does NOT deserve it. Marcus Lovett as the Phantom and Simon Thomas as Raoul are amazing. "All I Ask Of You" was the cutest musical theatre scene I have ever watched, Christine/Raoul is my ship for that show. If you can, go and see it. You will not regret).**

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**So I've not had much time, though I do have a multi-chapter fic idea that someone gave me with a prompt, though I'm not saying anything about it in case I don't write it. But will be very much AU and it will be Meponine, should I write it ;) Oh, and the prompt was given through a PM, so no chance of spoilers. :P**

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**Aaaaaaanyway, here's part two ;) And it's pretty damn angsty. Hmm.**

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Two weeks had passed, and if anything, Éponine seemed to be getting worse.

She'd picked up around day five, but had sunk even further by day seven. Marius hadn't left her bedside, apart from swiftly seeing Lottie (and even then he couldn't concentrate properly). Musichetta said she'd settled okay, though was crying a bit more regularly, and sent Éponine her best, as always.

Éponine had been on a drip full-time, with two injections per day. It was definitely pneumonia, despite Marius' fears it could be tuberculosis after she'd coughed up blood.

It had been a terrifying evening for him, as tuberculosis had been the illness that took his mother's life. Éponine had been sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning like there was no tomorrow. He'd woken her, and she'd immediately started coughing. Usually it was just phlegm that came up, but he saw red in it.

_"Oh God, 'Ponine" Marius said worriedly, as he looked at the red stain in the tissue. "Joly! Joly! JOLY!" he'd cried, and the student appeared immediately._

_"What is if? What's happened?"_

_Speechlessly, Marius handed him the tissue, biting his lip. He stroked Éponine's hair, who by this point hadn't quite fallen back to sleep but was lying with her eyes closed, waiting for the verdict._

_Joly had looked worried, which hadn't exactly been reassuring. He'd disappeared with the tissue whilst Marius reassured his wife._

_"Am I-am I dying?"_

_Panic had gripped him then. "No" he'd told her, trying to reassure himself more than her. "You're not going to die. Joly will cure you. You can't leave me. Or Lottie. Dear God, 'Ponine, you can't leave us. You can't. You won't," he told her, desperation in his voice as he fiercely kissed her hand. She'd simply nodded. "Won't leave you...so tired..."_

_"No, Éponine, you can't sleep. You have to wait for Joly."_

_"But Marius..."_

_"I'm sorry, but it's important."_

_She sighed. Marius, as gently as he could manage, pulled her in to an embrace, cradling her against him, holding her tightly. "You're going to be fine. Promise."_

_He pressed a kiss to her damp hair, feeling her shiver. "You're going to be fine" he repeated._

_Joly had come back. "Good news and bad news. Which first?"_

_"Bad" both had said almost instantly._

_"Right, okay. Bad news is that this isn't the worst point. Things could go down."_

_"And good?"_

_"It's definitely not fatal. We think the blood is due to a lung inflammation, and though it isn't good, it isn't terrifyingly bad either."_

_Marius nodded. "Thank you" he said breathing a huge, long sigh of relief. He was worried that it could get worse, but the knowledge that she wasn't going to die on him was a relieving feeling that he couldn't describe. It was okay. She wasn't going to leave him._

It had only been an hour ago, but it was still so vivid. He'd been so terrified. He'd been so close to losing her at the barricades. And what of Lottie if her mother died so young? She was only twenty one, far too young to die. He'd be broken. Beyond broken. Destroyed. It sounded such a cliché, but he honestly couldn't imagine his life without her. He couldn't remember his life before Éponine Thénardier (well, now Éponine Pontmercy) walked in to it, not properly. Facing a future without her was something he simply couldn't do, and he knew it.

_No, Marius_, he told himself. _She isn't going to die, and you don't need to worry so much._

Looking down, he held her closer to him. Joly had injected something in to her and said sleep was the best thing to do, so they'd followed that instruction. But what worried him was her weight. She was always rather skinny, despite eating well. Only now she was thin. Properly thin, like she had been when she was still living on the streets. As he was the only one permitted to wash her, he had of course seen her torso, and her ribs were showing once more. You could almost see her skeleton in her collar bone and shoulder blades. It frightened him, watching her waste away to nothing and knowing he couldn't do anything to stop it.

Her hair was damp with sweat, despite her shivers. But the vomiting had stopped, which had to be a good thing. They needed good news, and the news she wasn't dying was very, very gladly welcomed.

Joly returned about five hours later. "Musichetta is here, with Lottie. We need to put a mask on Éponine to stop the germs spreading, as pneumonia would almost definitely be fatal for a child, but the staff and I have agreed that, if she wants, ten minutes should be fine."

Marius managed a smile, gently shaking her awake. "'Ponine" he said softly, to which she groaned a little. "What?"

"Lottie's here, they say you can see her for ten minutes."

Éponine's face made no change, but her eyes lit up, and that warmed his heart now than anything. Those chocolate brown eyes with their flecks of gold, hazel and bronze had been dead for so long, empty of their usual happy sparkle. Seeing such life in them, for him, was a step in the right direction.

"Please" she managed to get out, as Joly gently placed the mask over her nose and mouth, which would ensure she could breathe normally without spreading any germs.

Musichetta appeared, cradling the infant. Her hand flew to her mouth at the sight of Éponine so weak, but she swiftly returned it to support Lottie's head.

Walking over, she kissed Éponine's forehead in greeting, before placing Charlotte gently on her chest. Marius had to help her hold their child properly, but when she did, you could practically hear the improvement at this little ray of happiness.

Even though she never said anything, the signs were clear that she was becoming depressed. Despite having Marius by her side, she'd been pining not only for her daughter but for the ability to move, to feel better, to breathe fresh air. Having Charlotte with her seemed to have lifted the haze, and she was even smiling, something he hadn't seen her do in quite a while.

Musichetta and Joly left, giving the family some time. Éponine spent that time simply stroking their daughter's cheek, and examining the hair that was growing.

"Definitely got your hair" she mumbled. Marius chuckled, kissing her head. "She does."

They sat like that until the ten minutes was up. Éponine was disappointed, but she didn't want to even hint at taking the risk of giving her daughter her illness, and allowed her to be taken without fuss, going back to what Marius assumed was sleep.

Marius caught the eye of Joly, and gave a nod of thanks. Joly seemed to understand, nodding back, giving Éponine her second injection, and left.

As soon as he was out of the room, he began to feel Éponine shake. "'Ponine?"

She lifted her head weakly, and he saw that she was crying. "Hey, don't cry, what is it?"

She sniffed. "I'm so sick of this. I miss Lottie so much it hurts. I want to walk around, I want to be able to kiss you again without being worried of passing this on. I just want to be well."

Marius felt his own eyes welling up slightly. "I know, I know. And I promise you this won't last forever. Just a few more weeks."

Another tear slid down her thin, hollow cheek, and he gently flicked it away with his thumb. "Just a few more weeks" he said again, pressing the tenderest kiss he could to her forehead as she burrowed herself further in to him.

"Promise."

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**A/N: I know, depressing. But she's not gonna die ;) Also, NotEvilNessa, that poem was amazing! And Eponine Jondrette, I hope this is okay for the prompt! :)**


	35. Home Again

**A/N: Sorry about the no updates for a while, I just wasn't feeling creative and things have been a bit stressful so yeah. But hopefully I can get back on schedule for good this time, so there won't be any more three-day gaps in between what are supposed to be daily updates :)**

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**Part Three, and final part of this mini-story-thing :) Enjoy! :) Yes, it's short, I know, but I'm seriously exhausted right now. Like, surprised-I'm-actually-able-to-type exhausted. Yep.**

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After four and a half weeks, Éponine was finally, finally, pretty much recovered.

There had been an incident about five days before where she'd started having hallucinations, and Joly had been terrified he was wrong in saying it wasn't fatal. It had been the most frightening night of Marius' life, watching her in such a state and being able to do nothing about it. By the time the hallucinations had stopped, he'd been in tears, and Joly had to give them a moment as he clutched his wife to him as tightly as possible without hurting her, needing the comfort and reassurance of knowing she was okay.

A couple of days later they'd taken the drip away, claiming she was on the mend. He still wasn't allowed to kiss her, as she wasn't fully recovered, but she could carry on normal conversations, and could eat, drink, sit up, all sorts of things she couldn't do without assistance. Marius still helped her bathe herself, as she couldn't reach her back or her hair, and more often than not he would give her a quick peck on the lips, disregarding all thoughts of catching her illness for that one tiny moment.

Lottie and Musichetta had been visiting a little more frequently too, a fact the couple were over the moon about. Éponine would spend about an hour with her family, simply relishing the feeling of being with the two people she loved most in the world. Whenever Lottie was taken once more she would lay in Marius' arms and slept, to avoid that aching feeling of the moments ruined. But she coped alright, and Musichetta would always give Joly a message to give to the couple on how their daughter was doing.

On this day, however, Éponine was allowed home.

They'd agreed to keep Lottie with Musichetta for another two days just in case Éponine had a relapse, and whilst they wanted their daughter back, they knew pneumonia could kill her just as it nearly had Éponine, and that was a risk they did not want to take.

Marius ended up packing their suitcases (when they had learned they would be there for a while, Enjolras had bought another suitcase of clothes, knowing Éponine wouldn't want to be stuck in a hospital gown twenty four hours a day) whilst Éponine got dressed. He helped her do up the buttons on the back, not letting her wear a corset as he knew how much she hated them and in case something went wrong and she needed to be able to take frequent deep breaths. Pressing a kiss to the base of her neck, he gave her another kiss on the back of her head before resuming packing.

Éponine had to be checked over once more before she left, and was pronounced fine, which came as a relief to both, considering they were already prepared for the journey home. Enjolras had agreed to pick them both up, as he was already planning to head further in to the town across the Seine, which sorted their transport.

So at half past one that afternoon, they were stood outside the entrance. Well, sitting. Éponine was sitting on one suitcase and Marius was on the other one next to her, holding her hand tightly and kissing her temple. She was glad to finally be outside - weeks of being cooped up indoors had eaten away at her patience, so moving about was a big bonus.

It didn't take long for Enjolras to turn up. Marius put their suitcases in the carriage, having greeted Enjolras, and then helped Éponine up in to it, securely closing the door. Enjolras was fairly silent as usual, and the couple took their cue from him to keep it that way, sitting quietly and grasping the hand of the other.

They took about twenty minutes to get back, and bidding a quick farewell to Enjolras, Marius picked up their suitcases and followed Éponine up the path to their home.

Enjolras had clearly given it a bit of a clean - the bed was made, as opposed to the mess they'd left it in in the urgency of getting Éponine to the hospital, the surfaces given a quick clean, and a tossed-aside nightgown Marius had rejected whilst packing had been folded and placed on Éponine's pillow.

Setting down the suitcases, Marius shut the door and immediately walked over to Éponine, touching her arm lightly. "Feeling okay?"

She smiled up at him. "Not quite yet."

"Why? What's wrong?"

She said nothing, simply leaning up to draw him in to a deep and rather passionate kiss. Marius immediately realised, and smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist, a hand resting between her shoulder blades. After a good five minutes they both pulled away, smiling, as Marius picked her up and spun her around, before pulling her gently in to a tight hug.

"You had me so worried. I honestly thought you were going to die."

"So did I. But I didn't. Unless something really, really odd is happening right now."

"You started hallucinating at some point."

"I did?"

"Yep. Something about water?"

"Hmm. Don't remember."

"No, you didn't seem to. I just hope it doesn't happen again. I was so terrified."

She looked up at him, palms flat against his chest. "Then we'll have to make sure it doesn't" she said with a smile, pulling him in to a kiss again.

When they (eventually) parted, Éponine helped with the unpacking, and Marius prepared her a bath. Instead of joining her, he simply handed her a towel and her favourite soap, telling her to take as long as she wanted.

Whilst she was gone, he started cooking, and went outside to a house five doors down, quickly and quietly picking three of their roses. De-thorning them, he put them in a glass and put it on the table, knowing that whilst the gesture was a bit of a cliché, that she would appreciate it. Lighting the candles and setting out plates and cutlery, he served up dinner (chicken, roasted potatoes with a salad bowl and a slice of toast, one of Éponine's favourite meals) just as he heard her getting out of the bath, and put his oven gloves away, checking things looked nice.p  
She came through in the dress she'd worn on the journey home, dismissing it as too early for night clothes, her hair wet. Marius walked over and covered her eyes, kissing the back of her head and guiding her through to their living room.

When he uncovered them, a large grin broke out on her face. Despite her rough upbringing, she was a romantic at heart, and the gesture was indeed very much appreciated. Turning around, she threw her arms around Marius, who hugged her back, breathing in her homely, slightly lavender-tinted smell, which had abandoned her at the hospital. He loved her smell. Even when she'd not had a bath in two days she still smelled slightly of lavender, as if it were engraved in her skin on a permanent basis.

Pulling out her seat for her, she smiled at him again, waiting until he'd sat down before beginning her meal. Marius had set aside enough for a good quality bottle of champagne, which they shared, simply enjoying the atmosphere and the presence of the other.

Once they'd finished their main meal, Marius came back with two slices of chocolate cake. He'd asked Enjolras to buy it at the market and given him the money, and was glad to see his friend had stuck to what he'd hoped. It was by far Éponine's favourite food, and she ate it in minutes, leaning over to steal some of his once she'd finished her own.

When they'd finished eating, they ended up on the sofa by the fireplace, Éponine's head on his lap with her eyes closed, and Marius playing with her hair as he read. Having her back to normal was not just a pleasant feeling, but a relieving one too, especially with the state she'd been in just a few days ago.

It still felt odd without Lottie, who by this time had definitely gotten Marius' hair, or at least his colour. Musichetta was taking good care of her, she'd been healthy and happy on their last visit, and the couple had no doubt that when her and Joly married and raised their own family she was going to make a truly brilliant mother. Not as good as Éponine, in Marius' mind, but good.

He looked down and found Éponine had fallen asleep, the colour back in her cheeks from the heat of the fire, and a small, subtle smile on her features. Leaning down to kiss her forehead, he gently set aside his book, carefully scooping her up and putting the fire out. Carrying her through to their bedroom, he changed himself and then gently woke her up, handing her her nightgown, which she sleepily replaced her dress with. Kissing her goodnight, they climbed on to their bed, Éponine still half asleep, and Marius carefully curling himself around her, an arm draped lightly around her waist and his nose buried in her hair as they drifted off, alone yet together in their home for the first time in a month.


	36. Storm

**A/N: Why did I leave this until quarter past one in the morning when I've only slept about four hours...very strong chance Éponine has slipped out of character here...but maybe she hasn't...hopefully not...**

**It's short. I feel like I should be wearing one of those gold star badges saying "you tried".**

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**Prompt: Imagine your OTP laying in bed tangled up in each other and the sheets, watching the rain hit the window while it's storming outside.**

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Éponine winced as another flash of lightning was seen through the windows.

Storms didn't seem to come very often, but when they did, they terrified her.

Lottie was still with Musichetta, as Éponine's three-day trial period wasn't up quite yet. She'd spent the day reading, a bit slowly, but still enjoying the book. It made a change from her usual cleaning and sleeping routine.

The storm had hit them at about half past ten that night, and Marius had been sharply awoken by the sound of his wife crying. At first he feared a nightmare, but then he remembered just how frightened of thunderstorms she was, and realised it was that.

She wasn't particularly sure why she hated them so. A lot of the time, it was because bad things had happened during them - her father had once tried to sell her to the docks in a thunderstorm, Gavroche had run away on the night of a thunderstorm, Montparnasse had very nearly violated her on the night of a thunderstorm. The list went on. They reminded her of all the bad things in the world, and scared the living daylight out of her.

At first, she'd tried her best to hide her dislike, when she was around other people. Éponine Pontmercy afraid of a thunderstorm? Of all the things, a thunderstorm? A simple piece of weather? She thought it sounded ridiculous, something Azelma or somebody younger would say. But it wasn't exactly something she could help. After all, you can't choose your fears, can you?

The weather had turned around completely at the drop of a hat, having been sunny with a light breeze for the entire day. Within ten minutes it was absolutely hammering with rain, and lighting streaked the sky, the rain so loud it felt as if the roof was going to collapse.

She'd immediately let out a cry and dived beneath the duvet completely, ignoring the fact it made her look like a child, more five than twenty-one. But Marius wouldn't judge her. So she continued.

He'd woken up almost immediately, to find her shaking heavily. "Hey, ssh. Just a storm" he told her, shuffling down so that they were at equal heights and gently hugging her frame to him, stroking her hair.

"Just a s-storm?"

"Just a storm. I know they're frightening, but they can't hurt you, remember."

Éponine was about to reply when another deafening roll of thunder rang out, and what had become smaller shakes turned in to violent trembling. Marius held her tightly, kissing her hair. Hopefully Lottie hadn't inherited this trait, he could happily comfort one, but not both at the same time. But for now, he turned his attention back to Éponine.

"Hey, calm down. Weather can't hurt you. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt you, remember?"

"Considering that's what I was saying when I was supposedly dying, that's not exactly my definition of reassuring."

He chuckled, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'll light a few candles and get some hot chocolate. Coming?"

Feeling her nod, he gently released her and fumbled around for the matches, lighting a candle nearest to him. They proceeded to light every candle in the room, which added up to about ten, and Marius felt his heart break a little when he saw Éponine's tear-stained face. Of all the things for her to be so scared of, it had to be something nobody could control, didn't it?

Tucking an arm securely around her waist, he flicked a tear away and kissed her softly, squeezing her hand as they parted. Lighting the candles in the kitchen, he began to heat up the milk, getting out a tin of cocoa. Éponine measured out the right amounts in to their cups, and waited for it to finish heating.

Once the milk had been heated enough, Marius carefully poured the steaming liquid in to their cups as Éponine stirred in the chocolate. It didn't take long before they were back in bed, swamped in the sheets and Éponine still shaking slightly, Marius' arm not leaving her waist as her head rested on his shoulder, both still sipping their hot chocolate.

It had been at least an hour when both mugs were empty. Marius leaned over to kiss her once more, lips tasting of chocolate as she returned his affections. When they broke apart, they settled down so they were lying once more, Éponine wincing as a blast of lightning lit up the room

"Do you want to try to sleep again? I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere, and the weather won't hurt you."

She looked at him, biting her lip and then nodding. "I can try. I'm sorry for acting like such a baby, that's supposed to be Lottie's job, not mine. I just can't help the tears even though I know they're stupid and I-"

He placed a finger on her lips, effectively silencing her. "Ssh. Being scared of thunderstorms is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Don't apologise, please."

She nodded as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she buried her face in his chest. "You're alright, 'Ponine. Please don't cry, here, let me wipe away your tears. You'll be alright, with me by your side, you have nothing to fear. I'm here*" he sang gently, making her smile at almost-forgotten memories of her mother singing the exact same song when she was frightened as a child.

"Thank you."

"Any time, my beautiful girl. Any time at all."

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***I hope there's someone out there who knows where that is from. And now I will sleep because I'm exhausted. Goodnight world.**


	37. Lottie's Return

**A/N: I need a day of just doing nothing and sleeping but no I have to be sociable and go out and do stuff I have no motivation to do just gncdwuncwdowcdoiwdcmoewcncdowindcwjowdkfl I do not enjoy socialising and I just want to spend my holiday watching YouTube videos and writing and sleeping and eating cake but I can't and just asdfghjkl help.**

**Casual self-pity party of one is casual XD**

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**Also, I am unbelievably tired and past the point of caring how short and probably full of typos this is. Sorry.**

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**Prompt (I guess you could say this was self-given, but yeah): Éponine and Marius bringing Lottie home.**

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Éponine grinned before she even opened her eyes.

Today was the day she could finally have her daughter back full-time. And she couldn't wait.

Marius sleepily shuffled next to her, his arms around her and his nose buried in her hair. He was still asleep, but close to waking up. Éponine could always tell by the way he would subconsciously clasp her tighter, as he seemed to do that just before waking. It was quite sweet, actually.

Closing her eyes, she pictured Lottie, and how she would look now, at five months old. Certainly her hair would have continued steadily growing, and she'd of course be bigger. Maybe she'd have even started crawling? God, she hoped not. To miss something so important because of an illness would be heartbreaking.

She heard Marius yawn next to her, guessing he was awake and turning herself over so that she was face-to-face with him, noses touching. "Morning, gorgeous" he said sleepily, kissing her. He always made a point of telling her she was beautiful, every day. Apart from him and her siblings, everybody in her life before had told her she was hideous, that nobody would ever consider her pretty. And she'd believed them. She still considered herself ugly, no matter how much he disagreed. She was confident in a lot of things, but not everything.

"Morning" she replied when their kiss broke apart. Her hair stuck out at all angles, having tossed and turned quite a bit, trying to adjust to their comfortable bed after the lumpy hospital mattress. Her eyes were still dark and she was still far too thin. But she was getting there again, deciding that "little and often" was the best way for her to gain weight. She was back to normal though, and that's what counted.

Not wanting to get up and leave the warmth of his wife and their bed, he wrapped his arms around her bony shoulders, simply holding her for a little longer. Éponine sighed contentedly. They couldn't pick her up until midday anyway, which was when the carriages were available to borrow, so may as well make the most of their time.

Marius kissed the end of her nose gently, before getting up to get them both some toast. Within ten minutes they were both eating, huddled in their duvet and both thinking about the day ahead.

Éponine finished first, as usual, walking over to their wardrobe, pulling out her favourite red dress. Picking up her underwear and a corset, she disappeared in to the bathroom to get ready, whilst Marius finished both his toast and his book.

At half past eleven they left the house, walking down to the carriages. Even though she was recovered, Éponine's illness had left her extremely vulnerable to cold weather, and she was shivering. The identical second Marius noticed, he'd taken his jacket off and put it on her instead, not wanting her to get ill yet again.

Luckily the carriage had some sort of insulation, so they were slightly warmer on the journey to Joly and Musichetta's. Even still, Éponine was comfortably perched on Marius' lap, his arms around her and rubbing up and down her arms in an attempt to keep her warm. They sat like that for the entire journey, and both sprang up enthusiastically as they reached the house.

Just before Éponine was about to knock on their door, Marius caught hold of her wrist gently. Leaning down to kiss her quickly, he then released it. "Just felt like doing that" was his explanation, making her smile.

Musichetta answered the door, giving Éponine a hug as soon as she saw her. "Come in, come in, Lottie's all fit for travelling."

Indeed, Lottie was in her hamper in the hall, a small suitcase next to her. She was awake and looking up at her parents through those brown eyes, undoubtedly Éponine's. Éponine reached down to gently pick her up, cradling her closely against her chest. Marius watched with an expression of pure adoration for them both, wrapping his arm around her waist and placing his other hand underneath hers, also supporting Charlotte.

"Somebody's been taken care of, haven't they?" Éponine crooned softly, smiling as Marius kissed her head, then his daughter's forehead.

After a cup of tea and a small conversation, they bid Musichetta goodbye and began the journey home, with Charlotte with them once more. Éponine gently gave her to Marius to hold for the journey, content with watching the two of them. How different Marius was with Lottie to how her father had been with Éponine. Right from the start, Thénardier hadn't wanted a daughter. Éponine knew that, she always had. Her father had cared for her in the early years, but he'd always wanted a son. And yet when he had Gavroche, he treated him so viscously that the boy ran away.

But Marius was the polar opposite. His eyes held nothing but love for their daughter, and she knew he'd be the same if the child were a boy. Lottie was already guaranteed a much nicer and a much safer life than Éponine ever had been, thank God. They'd already decided they were going to send her to a school once she was old enough, Éponine considered it giving her offspring the childhood she never got, and was all for her learning to read and write. Once more, they were giving their child what her mother never had, and it was the most wonderful feeling she'd ever felt.

The carriage pulled up outside their house, Marius thanking the driver as Éponine gently took their daughter back, following Marius up the path to their little cottage. Instead of progressing through to their nursery, they remained in the hall, looking down at the little bundle and relishing the feeling of having their little family complete again.

And, do you know, standing there in the hallway with her husband, who she fell more and more in love with as the days went on, holding their daughter for the first time in a month, Éponine was experiencing what could only be described as bliss.


	38. Job Stress

**A/N: Let's pretend I've been 100% on schedule this whole time. Yep. Probably gonna change this to updates once every two days rather than every day, as I seem to be failing at keeping to that. Plus the AU fic I mentioned a few chapters ago is a go-ahead, then there's Madness and An Exchange of Letters, so yeah. Sorry.**

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**Prompt: Imagine Person A coming home after a hard day or long trip to find Person B lying on the sofa, their baby/small child sleeping on their chest**

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Marius yawned.

Having taken time off whilst Éponine was in hospital, he'd fallen completely out of his work routine. He'd usually stayed awake for as long as he could during the nights, in case something happened. But now he was back working full days, his sleep patterns had become a bit of a problem.

So every day was a long day, and even harder as he had so much to catch up on. He hadn't realised he was staring at Éponine's picture until someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if he was alright.

So when the clock finally struck six, he was out of the building as fast as his legs would carry him, stopping off to get some bread and a cake for them to share. He also picked up a small bunch of flowers for Éponine, and headed home, his energy coming from the thought of spending the rest of the evening with his wife and daughter.

Walking up their street, he looked up at the stars. Éponine would know the constellations. He'd unearthed a book of astrology, and she'd spent hours pouring over it, remembering every last detail. She probably knew more than some scientists just from that one book.

Opening their front door, he was surprised to find the house silent. Maybe Éponine had gone out somewhere? Though she didn't tend to enjoy going out on her own, knowing a couple of members of the Patron-Minette were still out there.

Dumping his briefcase by the front door, he walked through to their front room, and was about to say something when he caught sight of Lottie. The infant was sleeping peacefully on Éponine's chest, looking so peaceful, so petite. Éponine was awake and turned her head as much as she could to see him, smiling.

"Well, this was a very welcoming sight to come home to" Marius whispered, kneeling by the sofa and leaning over to kiss his wife softly, smiling slightly, an arm coming up to gently play with her hair. She returned the kiss, careful not to jolt Lottie as she did.

When they pulled away, Marius pressed a tender kiss to their daughter's forehead, as Éponine ever-so-carefully picked her up and placed her in her crib. Marius placed a hand on her shoulder as they watched her wriggle slightly in her sleep, gently covering her with the blanket and heading back to the living room.

"Good day?"

"Kind of. It's so odd being back in a working environment. I suppose I should be lucky I've still got a job after having requested so much time off, so I can't complain."

"Could you change jobs? I know your boss still isn't happy."

"It's not that simple. I need a reference, and since my recent track record hasn't exactly been fabulous, it's unlikely I'd get one which paid enough to keep us going."

Éponine sighed, tucking herself under his arm. "I wish that man would get over things. If he wants a fight, I'll bloody well give him one."

Marius chuckled, kissing her temple. "I'm sure you would, but that'd probably get me fired."

"Best not then."

"Indeed."

They sat in comfortable silence, Éponine adjusting herself so that her head was on his lap. It took a few minutes for them to realise they still hadn't eaten, and Marius headed through to the kitchen whilst Éponine prepared a bottle for Lottie, who had woken.

Whilst things were cooking, Éponine picked up the infant and let her have her feed, walking slowly around the nursery as she did. When Lottie had finished, she placed the bottle to one side, and did the routine burping, before replacing her gently in her crib.

Walking back through, she saw Marius getting the plates out. "Nothing fancy, I'm afraid."

She leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry, I'll eat anything. I'm just glad you're not one of those people who expects the woman to do all the cooking, I'd probably end up accidentally poisoning us. Last time I tried to make toast it ended up practically cremated."

He chuckled, kissing her head. "I just don't believe in gender roles. Plus, I have to admit, your cooking is atrocious."

She hit his arm with a newspaper playfully, as he chuckled, turning to serve up their dinner, which was toast, roasted potatoes, turkey and cheese. Carrying the plates through, he followed Éponine to the table, placing her plate in front of her. "There you go, Madame."

"Thank you very much, Monsieur."

"No charge."

They settled down to eat, the meal gone within minutes, neither realising just how hungry they were. Both had a slice of cake to finish things off, and checked on Lottie one last time, before deciding to just head straight to bed. Instead of sleeping, Marius instead ended up receiving a shoulder massage from Éponine, which helped more than he expected.

"You've got so many knots, you're clearly stressed over your job."

He sighed. "I am, but I'm fine."

"You're not. I'm not having you get ill because of your prat of a boss."

"Éponine!"

"Well, it's true."

Marius smiled, rolling his eyes as his little massage finished. Éponine blew the candle out as they both slipped under the covers, him loosely draping an arm around her waist as he kissed her cheek tenderly. "I'll see what I can do in terms of jobs."

"Good. I don't want you getting so stressed over it. You'll have a breakdown if if gets worse."

"Hmm."

"I'm...I'm not part of the problem, am I?"

Even though she couldn't see, Marius' expression turned to shock. "Why on Earth would you be a problem?" he asked, kissing her head.

"Well, me getting ill was clearly stressing you out, then all the time you had off of work because of me."

"You could never be a problem, 'Ponine. I promise you aren't causing any trouble."

She nodded. "Well, it's Saturday tomorrow, so you don't need to go."

"Good. Now go to sleep, beautiful. I love you, and don't ever think you're a bother."

Éponine smiled in the darkness. "I love you too. Now goodnight."

And so they slept, a mess of tangled limbs beneath the duvet, Marius dreaming of Éponine and Éponine dreaming of how she could help.


	39. News

**A/N: Starting this earlier than normal so hopefully I can update something else too.**

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**ALSO.**

**The next couple of chapters will focus solely around Éponine and Lottie (you'll see why after this prompt).**

**BUT.**

**There is nothing on the parenting tag I can find. Nothing. So basically I need prompts. Even if you think they're the crappiest things you've ever come up with, send them in anyway, because chances are they won't be bad. I may not use all of them, depending on how many I get, but yeah. Please submit! :)**

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**Prompt: Imagine Person A has some bad news for Person B.**

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Marius shifted anxiously.

What was Éponine going to say?

Hopefully she wouldn't mind too much. But who knows? The last time it had happened they weren't even together.

But now he had to leave both her and Lottie for a month. Four entire weeks. Twenty-eight whole days. Six hundred and seventy-two hours. Forty thousand, three hundred and twenty minutes. He would have worked out the seconds had he not still been at work.

But if he refused, he would lose his job. And they couldn't afford to do that. They weren't poor by any means, comfortably middle-class, but without his income, they'd probably have to sell the house, sell their furniture, they wouldn't be able to afford to send Lottie to school when she was old enough...no. He couldn't lose it, no matter how painful it would be to be without them.

He had one day where he could return to Paris, halfway through, so he'd be spending the day with his family, no question. And he could write, as could Éponine once she knew the address. She could keep him updated on Lottie, though hopefully he wouldn't miss anything huge.

Packing up his papers and books, he began the journey home, rehearsing what he was going to say to Éponine. He could only hope she wouldn't be too upset, it'd break his heart.

Walking up the path, he let himself in, hearing the patter of feet coming towards him as he put his briefcase down. Éponine appeared in less than a minute, smiling. "Evening" she said, reaching up to kiss him. He gently wound his arms around her waist, trying to gather the confidence to relay his news by simply holding her.

When they broke apart, he didn't let go, hugging her tightly. "Something happened? You seem a bit nervous" Éponine said, leaning against him. He closed his eyes, nodding.

"Well I'll make a cup of tea and you can tell me about it, okay?"

He nodded, kissing her forehead gratefully and heading through to see his daughter. There she was, asleep in her crib, tufts of hair now almost undoubtedly his colour. He smiled. She really was a perfect blend of the two of them, her eyes, his hair, his freckles, her skin. He imagined she'd probably have Éponine's feisty temperament.

Leaning down to tuck a loose corner of the blanket, he suddenly found small tears in his eyes. He had to leave the next day. This was the last evening he'd have with them both for a month. An entire month.

He gently stroked down her soft, rounded cheek. Their beautiful, beautiful daughter. It still seemed so surreal, to see so much of both of them reflected in one tiny human being.

"Tea's ready!" Éponine called through. He pressed a kiss to Lottie's forehead and left, heading through to the lounge. Éponine was waiting with two steaming cups in her hand, placing them on the table. He sat on the sofa, and she sat next to him.

"So? What's happened?"

He took a breath. "I-I've got to go away for a bit."

He heard her swallow. "For how long? A week?"

"A month."

She pressed her lips together tightly, drawing a deep breath and seemingly forcing herself to nod. Realising she wasn't helping, she tried to steady her voice as best she could. "Okay. Right. Okay. Where to?"

"England."

It was then she felt her eyes pricking with very much unwanted tears. A month. In England. Without her. "Wh-when do you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow" he replied quietly. Éponine bit her lip. She felt like crying, but knew she couldn't. No. She wasn't going to make this any harder for him than she had to. Besides, it was only a month. It wasn't like he was going away forever. And she knew Marius, she knew how bad he was feeling and she knew that by crying she was going to make things much worse.

He studied her anxiously. "Say something. Anything."

She wasn't sure what to say, not trusting herself to open her mouth in case it triggered the tears. Instead, she leaned forwards and threw her arms around his neck, holding him tightly as he returned her embrace.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous, it has to be done."

"I just don't want to leave you-"

"Ssh. I know you don't. But knowing your bloody boss, it's either this or he fires you. Besides, a month isn't that long, is it? Four out of fifty two weeks, that's all."

He nodded, kissing the side of her head. "I know. And we can write, I'll send you the address of wherever I'm staying."

She smiled. "You'll be back before you know it."

They gently drew back. To Éponine's surprise, it was Marius who was crying. "Hey, it's okay. Don't cry."

"Sorry. I just...I don't know."

"I know you don't."

"You're not...you're not angry with me, are you?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm not angry with you. I have no reason to be, it wasn't your decision."

He nodded. "I suppose I'd better start packing then."

"I'll cook something. No meat though, I don't want to be sending you off with food poisoning."

He smiled. "That'd be lovely" he said, kissing her cheek gently. She disappeared off in to the kitchen, debating on what to make. She definitely wasn't the best chef around, having never learned how to prepare food like Marius had. Unearthing a cookbook, she began to look through it, trying to find something fairly simple that didn't include meat.

"Chicken fried brown rice" she read out, finding it easier to read when speaking the words. Well, she could try it, surely. Marius could tell her when the chicken was cooked if needed. She'd be cooking it in a saucepan so she'd see it cooking. So why not try it?

"Brown rice...pepper...peas...green onion...rice-wine vinegar..well, normal vinegar probably works too...soy sauce...probably not essential...hmm."

She shrugged, deciding to try. After all, as long as the chicken was cooked, he wouldn't be poisoned from it.

About an hour later, she was pretty damn happy with the result. Everything was cooked and arranged as shown in the drawing, and she proudly served up the meal, glad they hadn't had to do an emergency toast back-up dinner.

They ate in silence, having ditched the table to shuffle up next to each other on the sofa. Éponine had slipped a foot in between his, something she did when she needed comforting or reassurance. She didn't even notice she did it, but he did, kissing her temple.

When they'd finished, Marius kissed her hair. "That was gorgeous, thank you."

She smiled, taking their dishes through to the kitchen. They checked on Lottie, feeding, burping and changing her before deciding on a joint bath, wanting to make the most of their final evening together.

Before too long they were tucked up under the duvet. "I'll miss you, you know. Lottie will too. You will write, won't you?"

"Every day" Marius said, hugging her tighter to him. "Well, maybe not every day, but as soon as I get a response I'll write back. Promise."

She nodded. "Definitely got everything?"

"Yep."

"Clothes?"

"Check."

"Pyjamas?"

"Check."

"Bathroom stuff?"

"Check."

"Underwear?"

"Check."

"Good."

He smiled, kissing her forehead. "I'll miss you. Both of you. I love you, you know. So, so much."

"I know, and I love you. But it won't be forever, remember."

"Thank God."

She smiled in the darkness. "I'd be happy just to talk the night away, but I think we should sleep now."

"I suppose. Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight."

Marius found sleep came easily, having been tired from work, slipping off within an hour. Éponine, however, was hit by the kind of insomnia caused by worry, by pain, by sadness. She ended up silently crying herself to sleep at half past two that morning, dreading for the moment when they'd have to say goodbye.

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**A/N: I'm sorry that this went very sappy and a bit depressing. I tried.**


	40. Gone

**A/N: Would have had this up a couple of days ago but my gerbil has had a stroke (she's quite old), so spent the majority of my evenings making sure the cage was safe and contained enough for her until she recovers. Still a bit stressed and really struggling to write this chapter, which is why it's a lot shorter than normal. Hope it lives up to any expectations.**

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**Also, first chapter of the fic I mentioned now up. It's called "Before the Storm", have a look maybe? :)**

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**Prompt: Imagine Person A of your OTP has to go away for a bit.**

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"Morning, beautiful."

Éponine smiled before opening her eyes, though she had to force it. This was Marius' last hour with her before they were separated, and a feeling of dread had settled itself in her stomach. She opened her eyes and sat up to find Marius hovering over her with a breakfast tray, smiling as she smiled back.

She shuffled over so that he could sit down, and started eating a piece of toast. Some people couldn't eat when they were nervous, but Éponine was not one of them. She'd always eat, no matter the circumstances.

Marius, for once, wasn't reading as he ate, sliding an arm around her waist and leaning his head on top of hers. An hour until he had to leave. He would have woken her earlier for more time, but she'd looked so peaceful that he'd drawn her instead. Some may call it creepy or strange, but he disagreed. He knew she wouldn't mind, and even at twenty one she was still the most adorable sleeper he'd ever come across, including Lottie. Plus, any picture of his family was a welcome one, in his mind.

He kissed her head as she finished the last mouthful, putting the tray to one side. "Feeling okay?"

"Been better. I'll miss you."

"I know you will. And I'll miss you, and Lottie."

"Do you want to spend some time with her?"

"As long as you come too."

"Naturally."

They both climbed out of bed, Éponine not bothering to get dressed as she followed him through to Lottie's nursery. She was six and a half months now, and sleeping longer through the nights, which was a welcome relief. Lottie was awake, peering up at her parents curiously.

Éponine picked her up and gently handed her to Marius, leaning her head against his shoulder as he held their daughter. God, she loved seeing them together. And now she wouldn't for a month.

They spent a good half an hour with Lottie, Marius enjoying those precious few moments with her. "She's got your dimples" he remarked as the infant smiled, tiny little dents appearing in her cheeks.

"She does."

Marius replaced her in her hamper, and walked over to his wife. "Make sure you tell me how she is" he muttered, kissing her hair and her forehead. "Every last detail. And you as well, even if you're feeling down then tell me, and I'll see what I can do, if anything."

She nodded, leaning up to kiss him. "Promise" she said, with a small smile. He gently pressed his lips to hers, letting his fingers tangle in her dark mane of hair, the other hand resting lightly on her lower back as he drew her closer.

All too soon their kiss ended, and she lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was going to be a long time until she heard it again, so may as well make the most of it now.

How long they stood like that was something neither could tell you. They heard a sharp knock on the front door, announcing the arrival of Marius' carriage. Éponine froze immediately. The moment she'd been dreading was there already, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Marius walked to the front door, asking the driver for two minutes with his wife as the man took his suitcases, giving a gruff nod. He turned back to Éponine and wasted no time in capturing her lips with his own. She responded with as much tenderness and as much passion as she could muster at the same time, simultaneously fighting not to break down in to tears. You are not going to make him feel worse, she thought.

When they parted, she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in the side of his neck as he returned her embrace, not a single tiny gap in between their bodies. "I love you. So, so much" he whispered in her ear, feeling her nod.

"I love you too. Write as soon as you get there so I can contact you."

"I will, I promise."

"Good."

All too soon their moment ended and Marius had to go. Éponine straightened his tie and kissed his cheek. "Chin up, mister" she said with a smile, unshed tears swimming in her eyes. He smiled back, kissing her lips, cheeks, forehead, temple and finally the very tip of her nose before he got in. They kept eye contact through the window, Marius clearly feeling anxious. She gave him a reassuring nod. "It's okay. I'll see you soon. I love you" she mouthed, and he smiled. "I love you too" he mouthed back, as the carriage set off, forcing them to break that contact.

Éponine watched the carriage until it was well out of sight, eyes still trained on the spot it had disappeared at. It was only when Nicolette, a forty-something year old woman living across the street, placed a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her back inside, settling her on the sofa. "He'll be back before you know it. You might enjoy the time apart."

"I don't mean to be rude but if you think I'm going to enjoy time away from my husband then you're sorely mistaken" Éponine replied in a slightly shaky voice.

Nicolette nodded. "You know where I am if you need me."

"Thanks. I mean it."

"Any time, dear."

As Nicolette left, Éponine padded through to their bedroom, unable to believe how empty the house felt already, despite having Lottie. There was still a Marius-shaped dent in the pillow and mattress, his empty cup of tea by the bed. A book, half open, a discarded shirt, a pair of slippers. She put the slippers on, thinking for a moment and then putting his shirt on too, tucking it in to one of her skirts and putting her old street belt back on.

Taking the slippers off, as they'd begun to rub her feet, she sat down in the little dent in the mattress, breathing in his smell. A month. A whole bloody month. All because some prat clearly didn't care that he had a family, and insisted on putting work first. She sighed, not for the first time that day.

She spent the majority of the day in a daze. The reality only hit her when she realised she'd made two cups of tea instead of one.


	41. Encounter

**A/N: *yawn* why do I always leave writing so late? Ah well. Hope you like.**

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**Prompt (thank you Eponine Everdeen42, I hope you don't mind I modified the 'and they have their own baby' part of your prompt slightly, I just can't personally imagine Enjolras having a child myself): How about Eponine takes Lottie for a little walk, and they meet someone! You know, run into an Amis.**

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**Also, to toomanyobsessionstocount, I did promise you some more Enjolras moments a little while ago, so I hope this is good :) Not sure if they put 'x's at the end of letters back then, but lets pretend they did for now.**

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Éponine bit her lip, waiting.

Come on, hurry up, she thought, as the postman slowly walked down the street. She was anxious to see if Marius had been able to write yet, hating the feeling of knowing absolutely nothing about him at that moment.

"Oh, for goodness' sake," she muttered, breaking in to a run and running down to the postman. "Anything for Éponine Pontmercy?"

"Yup. Right 'ere, ma'm" came the reply, and her heart could have jumped for joy as the man fished the letter out and handed it to her. The stamp wasn't a French stamp, and she knew immediately that the moment she'd been waiting for was there.

"Thank you" Éponine replied, turning on her heel and running back, realising she'd left the front door open. Hastily closing it, she leaned against the wall for a moment, before heading through to the nursery and walking over to where Lottie lay, in her crib.

"Mama's taking you to the park today, Papa's written. Isn't that exciting?" she crooned softly, picking her daughter up and kissing her forehead. "Someone needs changing" she added, wrinkling her nose as she obliged with the rather off-putting task.

Once Lottie had been fed and changed, she placed her in her pram, checked there was enough to keep her happy, and tucked the letter in her pocket, heading to the square where she could read her letter in the open.

As it was early in the morning, the park was almost empty, and she strolled to the centre, where a large fountain was. Throwing in a centime and wishing on it, as Marius had once told her to do, she settled herself on the bench, an arm resting on the pram handle as she opened the envelope and read it's contents, delighted to recognise Marius' handwriting.

_My beautiful Éponine,_

_I should probably be unpacking at the moment, but I wanted to get this to you as soon as possible._

_I arrived safely at the hotel about an hour ago. It's a nice place, clean and homely (though not as homely as our cottage, of course) and I've settled in as well as I can._

_It's so odd seeing a single bed when I'm so used to sleeping in the double with you. It's not too lumpy, thank heavens, the last one I stayed in I could have sworn was made of rocks. I've got a nice view of the ocean too, which is good for me, as it's almost as relaxing as being with you._

_I hope you and Charlotte are well. And that you haven't burned the house down with a cooking mishap. You've rolled your eyes by now, I know you have. Now you're repeating the act with a small smile, biting your lip. Am I right?_

_I do hope little Lottie's doing alright. Has she started crawling yet? At the risk of sounding selfish, I do hope not, I couldn't bear to miss something so important. Any signs of who's hair she has yet? I hope she doesn't get mine. I know she's got my colour, but if she gets my mother's texture then good luck to her, it was a nightmare to brush. Gorgeous, but a nightmare._

_I miss you. Both of you. More than I can say. I keep expecting to hear your footsteps behind me, feel your hand on my shoulder as you tell me I'm working too much. Alright, yes, I have already started - a head shake will have come from you this time. And another._

_I'm so sorry for the shortness of this letter, but it's getting on midnight, and my candle's about to run out. I've put the address on the back of the envelope - I hope you hadn't thrown it away by now! - and I hope to hear from you soon._

_All my love, my darling,_

_Marius xxx_

She raised a hand to her lips, reading the letter another three times before placing it back in the envelope, and back in her pocket. Three more weeks, that's all, she thought.

"Éponine?"

She looked up. "Enjolras? It's been a whi-good God in heaven, has someone cracked the marble statue at last?!"

The last sentence was aimed at the pram currently in front of the student. He rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. She's my niece, Annabelle."

"Well, I definitely didn't picture you being the nurturing uncle type."

"I didn't ever imagine you being the doting mother type, and yet here we are."

"Very true."

She moved Lottie's pram so that Enjolras could sit next to her. Lottie had fallen asleep already, and she put the visor up to stop her getting burned in the sun.

"Where's Marius?"

"Away. England. Work stuff."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be."

They fell in to silence, both children having gone to sleep. Éponine leaned her head on Enjolras' shoulder, glad to have run in to a friend. She realised then she hadn't seen Cosette or Grantaire in a while either. Removing her head from Enjolras' shoulder, she checked on Lottie.

"Seen 'Taire recently?"

"Yesterday. He's alright."

"Glad to hear it. Started working now, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, in The Three Terriers pub, near Joly."

"Never been. Family friendly place or would I want to leave Lottie behind?"

"Well, you get a lot of drunks there in the evening, so you would probably want to leave her behind. I would say you wouldn't want to go on your own, but I seem to remember it was you fighting off four fully-grown drunken men by yourself one evening, so I think you'd do just fine."

"I had the advantage of surprise. Nobody expects a street rat to be strong."

"That, and you've got one hell of a good punch there."

"What can I say, I was a Thénardier."

"True."

They chatted for another couple of hours until Enjolras realised the time, needing to get back to his brother's house. Éponine nodded, smiling as they said their goodbyes and departed their separate ways.

She checked Lottie was fine before heading through to the bedroom, making herself a cup of tea and settling down to write a reply to Marius, feeling somewhat better after her encounter and making a note to visit Cosette as soon as she could.

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**I hope Enjolras was in-character there, to be perfectly honest I can't be bothered to flip through the book and check right now. So...hmm.**


	42. Writing

**A/N: Hello (: There's a large chance that the apostrophe's I'm using look a bit odd, using my nan's laptop (wifi terrible, hopefully I can upload this alright) so sorry if it looks a bit odd! Also can't figure out how to put the accent on Eponine's name, so...yeah. Sorry! (:**

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**Prompt (thank you TheFunnyGirlDefyingGravity): Eponine suffering from a serious case of writers block when writing to Marius, and tries just about everything to get over it.**

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_My dearest Marius..._

Eponine sighed.

This was going to be harder than she expected. What was she supposed to write? "I saw a person you know, went for a walk and almost burned the kitchen down cooking dinner last night. How are you?" didn't seem to cut it somehow.

_Things have been fairly quiet since you left..._

No, she thought, sighing as she fetched another piece of paper and began again. Try again, and avoid the topic of what he already knows.

_My dearest Marius,_

_Your letter did indeed find me well, Lottie too. I read it in the Luxembourg Gardens we went to a couple of years ago, by the fountain. I ran in to Enjolras there too, which I didn't expect, especially as he had a baby with him too._

Wait...should she be more specific with the fact that the child was his niece? Or what? Would Marius already know this? Did he know Enjolras that well? He'd always seemed closer to Joly than the others, having been introduced to Bossuet first and meeting the two again before he joined the revolutionaries.

But then again, he had been with them a while, so perhaps he did know?

_Don't be fooled, it was his niece, which you may already have guessed. I thought it was his child at first, though I suppose I should have known better. We'd have heard by now...wouldn't we?_

She sighed again. Now what? That was the only exciting event that had happened since he'd gone away. But she couldn't just leave it at three sentences, especially when he'd written her an entire letter.

Taking a breath, she put the pen down. She was getting nowhere. The phrase 'writers block' had been one she'd heard of, and knew the meaning of, but never experienced herself. Now she was realising just how frustrating it really was, why it caused Marius to get so stressed over his work when he wasn't sure what to put in a report. It seemed to come up at the most inopportune moments.

Like now, for instance.

Marius had mentioned some tactics a little while ago, she seemed to remember. Fresh air? Reading? Surely writing wasn't one, since that was what she couldn't do at that present moment.

Air seemed like her best bet, so she headed out in to their front garden, pen, paper and a book to lean on in her hands and a determined expression on her face. She was going to write this letter. She was going to get past this 'writers block', or whatever it was.

Well. She was going to try, at any rate.

She placed pen to paper once more, and thought about what to write.

Should she tell him about Lottie, and how she was doing? Or save that for later in case she came even more stuck than she was already? The weather? That seemed like a safe option, but would the weather interest him at all? Probably not. But it'd be something to add to the length, at least.

_The weather hasn't been too bad since you left. A bit cloudy sometimes, but no rain or storms – luckily Lottie doesn't seem to be affected by them anyway, even if I am. I still can't believe you were voluntarily doing some work on the evening you arrived, you didn't have to! Honestly, that time was completely your own, silly boy._

"Silly boy"?! She sounded like a grandmother telling her grandson off for asking for sweet money. She scratched that out and put "idiot" instead, knowing he'd know she didn't really mean it.

So now what?

Sighing, she leaned back against the backrest of the chair, cursing as the pen left an ink blob right next to the word 'idiot'. What else did Marius do when he had this writers block? Did he read? Sleep? Daydream? Reading sounded like the safest option, if she slept she might miss the postman, so she collected her things and walked back through to his desk, sitting down in the chair and picking up one of his books.

Half an hour later, she was just plain confused. She'd picked up a German book by accident, and hadn't been able to find an French one. Setting it down, she attempted to write again, to no avail.

Well, it looked like sleeping was going to be the best option. She left the pen and paper where it was, and padded through to their bedroom, curling up on Marius' side of the bed and closing her eyes, burying her head in his pillow, which one of his shirts had been draped over.

It was Lottie that woke her from a rather pleasant dream about an hour later, wanting to be fed. She prepared a bottle and held it to the girls' mouth, finishing the routine burping as she placed her in her hamper by the window, kissing her forehead.

Sitting at the desk one more, she picked up the pen for the third time. Screw it, she thought, deciding to just write about Lottie instead of saving it for later use.

_Lottie hasn't started crawling yet, so don't worry, you haven't missed anything! I think she misses you though, she's been so quiet recently, clearly wondering why it's not her Papa burping her after she's eaten, or coming to see her during the night. I miss you too. A lot. I've made a habit of wearing one of your shirts with one of my skirts, and the belt I used during my street days. I probably look a bit odd, but I don't care. I feel more secure this way._

Yes, that seemed good. She hadn't done anything to make him feel bad (or at least she hoped she hadn't) and that had made the letter seem far longer than it had before. She had a look at her current work.

_My dearest Marius,_

_Your letter did indeed find me well, Lottie too. I read it in the Luxembourg Gardens we went to a couple of years ago, by the fountain. I ran in to Enjolras there too, which I didn't expect, especially as he had a baby with him too._

_Don't be fooled, it was his niece, which you may already have guessed. I thought it was his child at first, though I suppose I should have known better. We'd have heard by now...wouldn't we?_

_The weather hasn't been too bad since you left. A bit cloudy sometimes, but no rain or storms – luckily Lottie doesn't seem to be affected by them anyway, even if I am. I still can't believe you were voluntarily doing some work on the evening you arrived, you didn't have to! Honestly, that time was completely your own, idiot._

_Lottie hasn't started crawling yet, so don't worry, you haven't missed anything! I think she misses you though, she's been so quiet recently, clearly wondering why it's not her Papa burping her after she's eaten, or coming to see her during the night. I miss you too. A lot. I've made a habit of wearing one of your shirts with one of my skirts, and the belt I used during my street days. I probably look a bit odd, but I don't care. I feel more secure this way._

Well, she was getting somewhere, at least, though it still felt a bit short. But what else could she add? There wasn't a lot to tell, unfortunately.

_I'm sorry for the shortness of my letter too. There's so much I want to include, but I just can't think of the words. But I know you'll understand, you always do, no matter the circumstances._

_I love you, and I miss you a lot. But I think we're doing as okay as can be expected. Only three weeks to go, right? Stay positive, my love. You'll be back before you know it, and we'll be here when you are._

_All the love in the world,_

_Eponine xxx_

Perfect. Waiting for the ink to dry before folding the letter, she placed it in the envelope and sealed it, adding a stamp and writing the address as clearly as she could. Knowing Lottie would be fine for two minutes, she ran down to the postbox and placed the letter in it, placing her lips to the envelope quickly before she dropped it in, hoping Marius would get it soon so that she could hear from him once again.


	43. AN

**Hi guys,**

**Sorry there's been no updates for a few days now.**

**I'm back at school and it's major exam year which is stressful enough, but my illness is playing up because of it (I'm not looking for sympathy, just letting you know) which is leaving me exhausted, even walking up the stairs is a chore.**

**There's a couple of other things going on too which aren't helping, and I just don't have the energy to think properly, which in turn is blocking my writing motivation and ideas. Hopefully I can get back to this soon, but I'm taking a bit of a break until school settles down again. I've got a treatment course coming up, so once that's done then there shouldn't be any more problems.**

**Sorry to keep having to delay, hope it isn't too annoying.**

**Kat xx**


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